E 

99 

C5F88 


FRELINGHUYSEN 

SPEECH  OF  MR. 
FRELINGHUYSEN,  OF 

NEW  JERSEY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/A 


SPEECH 


OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

DELIVERED 

IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

APRIL  6,  1830, 


ON  THE  BILL  FOR  AN  EXCHANGE  OF  L\NDS  WITH  THE  INDIANS 
RESIDING  IN  ANY  OF  THE  STATES  OR  TERRITORIES, 


AND 


FOR  THEIR  REMOVAL  WEST  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


PRINTED    AND  PUBLISHED   AT   THE    OFFICE    OP   THE 
NATIONAL   JOURNAIft 

j::::::::::: 

1830. 


SPEECH  OF 

3IR,  FRELINGIIUYSEN,  OF  NEW  JERSEY 


IN  SENATE  UNITED  STATES— APRIL  6,  1830. 


The  Bill  to  provide  for  an  exchange  of  Lands  with 
the  Indians  residing  in  any  of  the  States  or  Territories, 
and  for  their  removal  West  of  the  river  Mississippi , 
being  under  consideration,  MR.  FRELINGIIUYSEN  spoke 
as  follows  : — 

MR.  PRESIDENT  :  I  propose  an  amendment  to  this  bill,  by  the  addition 
of  two  sections  in  the  form  of  provisos.  The  first  of  which  brings  up 
to  our  consideration  the  nature  of  our  public  duties,  in  relation  to  the 
Indian  Nations;  and  the  second  provides  for  the  continuance  of  ouc 
future  njgntiations,  by  the  mode  of  treaties,  as  in  our  past  intercourse 
with  them.  The  following  is  the  amendment : 

"  Provided  always.  That,  until  the  said  tribes  or  nations  shall  choose 
to  remove,  as  by  this  act  is  contemplated,  they  shall  be  protected  in 
their  present  possessions,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  their  rights  of 
territory  and  government,  as  heretofore  exercised  and  enjoyed,  from  all 
interruptions  and  encroachments. 

"  And  provided  also,  That  before  any  removal  shall  take  place  of  any 
of  the  said  tribes  or  nations,  and  before  any  exchange  or  exchanges  of 
land  be  made  as  aforesaid,  that  the  rights  of  any  such  tribes  or  nations 
in  the  premises  shall  be  stipulated  for,  secured  and  guarantied  by  treaty 
or  treaties  as  heretofore  made." 

The  first  of  these  sections  discloses  the  real  object  sought  by  this  bill, 
seemingly  composed  of  harmless  clauses.  It  supposes  that  the  design  of 
the  system  of  which  the  present  bill  forms  but  a  part,  is  really  to  remove 
all  the  Indian  tribes  beyond  the  Mississippi,  or  in  case  of  their  refusal,  to 
subject  them  to  State  sovereignty  and  legislation.  The  Hon.  Senator, 
(Mr.  WHITE,)  who  yesterday  addressed  the  Senate,  found  it  necessary 
so  to  consider  it ;  and  to  anticipate  and  endeavor  to  meet  all  such  objec- 
tions to  this  course  of  policy,  as  he  deemed  worthy  of  a  refutation. 

Sir,  I  prefer  that  this  latent  object  should  be  put  fully  before  us,  that 
we  and  the  nation  may  look  at  it,  and  freely  scrutinize  it.  At  an  early 
stage  of  the  present  Administration,  its  views  and  opinions  on  the  inte- 
resting subject  of  our  Indian  relations,  were  developed  in  language  not 
TO  be  nistaken.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted,  Sir,  that  our  present 
Chief  Magistrate  did  not  pursue  the  wise  and  prudent  policy  of  his  ex- 


alted  predecessor,  President  Washington,  who,  at  a  lime  of  collision-  and 
difficulty  with  these  tribes,  came  before  the  Senate,  anil  laid  open  to 
them,  in  propositions  for  their  approbation,  the  various  important  sub- 
jects involved  in  our  relations.  The  annexed  extract  from  the  Journals 
of  the  Senate  'illustrates  the  principles  of  Washington's  Administration. 
It  fallows : 

"  SATURDAY,  August  22,  1789- 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  came  into  the  Senate,  attended 
by  General  Knox,  and  laid  before  the  Senate  the  following  state  of  lacts, 
with  the  questions  thereto  annexed,/™-  their  advice  and  consent." 

This  was  a  most  important  document.  It  developed  all  the  collisions 
that  existed  between  the  Indian  tribes  and  the  States  ;  and  referred  to 
the  consideration  of  the  Senate  certain  leading  principles  of  policy 
which  he  thought  it  was  wise  to  pursue. 

These  principles  are  embodied  in  seven  distinct  interrogatories.  The 
4th  of  which  submits  to  the  Senate  "  whether  the  United  States  shall 
solemnly  guarantee  to  the  Creeks  their  remaining  territory,  and  maintain 
the  same,  if  necessary,  by  a  line  of  military  posts."  This  question 
"  was  wholly  answered  in  the  affirmative"  by  that  body,  and  the  blank 
(for  ab  appropriation  of  necessary  funds)  was  ordered  to  be  filled  at  the 
discretion  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Again,  on  the  llth  of 
August,  1790,  President  Washington  sent  a  special  message  to  (he  Senate 
by  his  Secretary,  the  subject  matter  of  which  he  introduces  by  the  fol- 
lowing suggestion  : 
"  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate: 

"  Although  the  treaty  with  the  Creeks  may  be  regarded  as  the  main 
foundaiion  of  the  future  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Southwestern  fron- 
tier of  the  United  States,  yet,  in  order  fully  to  effect  so  desirable  an 
object,  the  treaties  which  have  been  entered  into  with  the  other  tribes 
in  that  quarter  must  be  faithfully  performed  on  our  part." 

He  then  proceeds  to  remind  the  Senate,  that,  by  the  treaty  with  the 
Cherokees,  in  November,  1785,  (the  treaty  of  Hopewell,)  '4he  said 
Cherrkees  placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States, 
and  had  a  boundary  assigned  them  ;'  that  the  white  people  settled  on  the 
frontiers  h;td  openly  violated  the  said  boundary  by  intruding  on  the  In- 
dian lands  ;  that  the  United  States  in  Congress  Assembled,  on  the  first 
day  of  Si  ptember,  1788,  had,  by  their  proclamation,  forbidden  all  such 
unwarrantable  intrusions,  enjoined  the  intruders  to  depart  without  loss  of 
time;  but  that  there  were  still  some  refractory  intruders  remaining.  The 
President  then  distinctly  announces  his  determination  to  exert  the  powers 
entrusted  to  him  by  the  Constitution,  in  order  to  carry  into  faithful  exe- 
cution the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  unless  a  new  boundary  should  be  arranged 
\viih  the  Cheroktes  embracing  the  intrusive  settlement,  and  compensat- 
ing the  Cherokees  in  the  cessions  they  shall  make  on  the  occasion. 
And  in  view  of  the  whole  case,  he  requests  the  advice  of  the  Senate, 
whether  overtures  shall  be  made  to  the  Cherokees  to  arrange  such  new 
boundary,  and  concludes  his  communication  with  the  following  emphatical 
question  :  "3d.  Shall  the  United  States  stipulate  solemnly  to  guarantee 
the  new  boundary  which  may  be  arranged  ?" 

It  produced  as  pointed  a  response — for  the  Senate 
"  Resolved,  In  case  a  new  or  other  boundary  than  that  stipulated  by 
the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  shall  be  concluded  with  the  Cherokee  Indians, 


that  the  Senate  do  advise  and  consent  solemnly  to  guarantee  the  same.'7 
A  new  boundary  was  arranged  by  a  second  treaty ;  the  solemn  gua- 
rantee was  given  to  the  Cherokees ;  and  cogent,  indeed,  should  be  the 
causes  that  now  lead  us  to  think  or  speak  lightly  of  such  sacred  obliga- 
tions. 

I  lament,  Sir,  that  so  bright  and  illustrious  a  precedent  was  not  re- 
garded, and  that  the  President  had  not  yielded  to  the  safe  guidance  of 
such  high  example;  and  I  deplore  it  the  more  because  it  was  concerning 
these  very  tribes,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  that  General  Washington  chose 
to  confer  with  his  constitutional  advisers. 

Instead  of  this  just  proceeding,  the  present  Administration  have 
thought  proper,  without  the  slightest  consultation  with  either  House  of 
Congress — without  any  opportunity  for  counsel  or  concert,  discussion  or 
deliberation,  on  the  part  of  these  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  Govern- 
ment, to  despatch  the  whole  subject  in  a  tone  and  style  of  decisive  con- 
struction of  our  obligations  and  of  Indian  rights.  It  would  really  seem, 
Sir,  as  if  opinion  was  to  be  forestalled,  and  the  door  of  inquiry  shut  for- 
ever upon  these  grave  questions,  so  deeply  implicating  our  national  faith 
and  hon»r. 

We  must  firmly  protest  against  this  Executive  disposition  of  these  high 
interests.  No  one  branch  of  the  Government  can  rescind,  modify  or 
expl.tin  away  our  public  treaties.  They  are  tha  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  so  declared  to  be  by  the  Constitution.  They  bind  the  President 
and  all  other  departments,  rulers  and  people.  And  when  their  provisions 
shall  be  controverted — when  their  breach  or  fulfilment  become  subjects 
of  investigation — here,  Sir,  and  in  the  other  Hall  of  our  Legislation,  are 
such  momentous  concerns  to  be  debated  and  considered.  That  we  may 
freely  exercise  these  essential  powers,  and  review  the  proclaimed  opinions 
of  the  Executive,  I  have  submitted  the  first  branch  of  the  amendment. 
We  possess  the  constitutional  right  to  inquire  wherefore  it  was  that, 
when  swme  of  these  tribes  appealed  to  the  Executive  for  protection,  ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  our  treaties  with  them,  they  received  the  answer 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  could  not  interpose  to  arrest 
or  prevent  the  legislation  of  the  States  over  them.  Sir,  this  was  a  harsh 
measure,  indeed,  to  faithful  allies,  that  had  so  long  reposed  in  confidence 
on  a  nation's  faith.  They  had  in  the  darkest  hour  of  trial  turned  to  the 
aegis  wbicb  the  most  solemn  pledges  had  provided  for  them,  and  were 
comforted  by  the  conviction  that  it  would  continue  to  shed  upon  them  a 
pure  and  untarnished  beam  of  light  and  hope.  Deep,  indeed,  must  have 
been  their  despondency,  when  their  political  father  assured  them  that 
their  confidence  would  be  presumptuous,  and  dissuaded  them  from  all 
expectation  of  relief. 

Mr.  President:  The  instructions  that  have  proceeded  from  the  War 
Department  to  the  Agents  of  Indian  Affairs  have  excited  just  and  strong 
jealousies  of  the  measures  that  are  now  recommended.  They  have 
prompted  this  amendment,  in  the  hope  that  by  some  public  and  decided 
expression  of  our  disapprobation,  a  train  of  political  management  with 
these  tribes  may  be  arrested,  and  our  country  saved  from  the  dishonor  of 
buying  over  the  consent  of  corrupted  Chiefs,  to  a  traitorous  surrender  of 
their  country. 

I  will  read  a  part  of  these  instructions ;  they  are  from  the  War  De- 
partraeqt  to  Generals  Carroll  and  Coffee,  of  the  date  of  30lh  May, 


1S29 :  "  The  past  (remarks  the  Secretary,  in  respect  to  Indian  councils,) 
has  demonstrated  their  utter  aversion  to  this  modo,  whilst  it  has  been 
made  equally  clear,  that  another  mode  promises  greater  success.  In  re- 
gard to  the  first,  (that  by  councils,)  the  Indians  have  seen  in  the  past, 
that  it  has  been  by  the  result  of  councils  that  the  extent  of  their  country 
has  been  fiom  time  to  time  diminished.  They  all  comprehend  this. 
Hence  it  is  that  those  who  are  interested  in  keeping  them  where  they  are 
alarm  their  fears,  and  by  previous  cautioning  induce  them  to  reject  all 
offers  looking  to  this  nbject.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  but  the  OIHSS 
of  the  people  would  be  glad  to  emigrate  ;  and  there  is  as  little  doubt  that 
they  are  kept  from  this  exercise  of  their  choice  by  their  chiefs  and  other 
interested  and  influential  men,"  &c.  Again  :  "  Nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  if  the  chiefs  and  influential  men  could  be  brought  into  the 
measure,  the  rest  would  implicitly  follow.  It  becomes,  therefore,  a 
matter  of  necessity,  if  the  General  Government  would  benefit  these  peo- 
ple, that  it  move  upon  them  in  the  line  of  their  own  prejudices,  and,  by 
the  jJoption  of  any  proper  means,  break  the  pow^r  that  is  warring  with, 
their  best  interests.  The  question  is,  how  can  this  be  best  done?  IS'  t, 
it  is  believed,  for  the  reasons  suggested,  by  means  of  a  general  council. 
There,  they  would  be  awakened  to  all  the  intimations  which  those  who 
ar^1  opposed  to  their  exchange  of  country  might  throw  out;  and  the  con* 
sequence  would  be — what  it  has  been — a  firm  refusal  to  acquiesce.  The 
best  resort  is  believed  t<;  be  that  which  is  unbraced  in  an  appeal  t<-  the 
chiefs  and  influential  men,  not  together,  but  apart,  at  their  own  houses, 
and,  by  a  proper  exposition  of  their  real  condition,  rouse  them  to  ihink 
of  that  ;  whilst  offers  to  them,  of  extensive  reservations  in  fee  simple, 
and  other  rewards^  would,  it  is  hoped,  result  in  obtaining  their  acqui- 
escence." 

Let  cs  analyze  this  singular  state  paper.  It  does  not  relish  the  con- 
gregation of  Indian  councils.  In  these  assemblies,  they  deliberate  and 
weigh  the  policy  of  measures — they  calculate  the  results  of  proposed  im- 
provements. These  councils  embody  the  collected  wisdom  of  the  tribes. 
Their  influence  is  of  the  authority  of  law ;  the  people  l"ok  to  them  for 
protection.  They  know  that  in  the  multitude  «-,f  counselors  there  is 
safety.  Hence  nations,  far  in  advance  of  the  Indians,  always  meet  in 
council,  when  their  great  interests  are  to  be  promoted  or  defended. 
But  these  special  agents  are  discouraged  from  hoping  that  the  object  can 
be  obtained  in  this  good  old  fashioned  way.  The  Indians  are  too  wise 
to  be  caught  when  the  net  is  spread  so  fully  in  sight.  They  are  directed 
to  avoid  all  associations  ;  and,  with  the  public  purse  in  hand,  to  take  the 
chiefs  alone — to  approach  individually,  and  at  home — "  to  meet  them  in 
the  way  of  their  prejudices."  I  admire  the  ingenious  clothing  of  a  most 
odious  proposal. 

A  strong  hint  is  suggested  to  try  the  effect  of  terror,  and,  by  a  proper 
exposition  of  their  real  condition,  rouse  them  to  think  upon  that,  and  to 
follow  this  up  with  "  large  offers  to  them  of  extensive  reservations  in  fee 
simple,  and  other  rewards."  The  report  made  by  one  of  these  agents 
to  the  War  Department,  dated  September  2d,  1829,  still  further  discloses 
the  nature  of  the  exigencies  to  which  the  Indians  are  to  he  subjected,  to 
constrain  their  removal.  The  agent  observes,  "  The  truth  is,  they 
(Cherokees)  rely  with  great  confidence  on  a  favorable  report  <^n  the 
petitions  they  have  before  Congress.  Jf  that  is  rejected)  and  the  laws 


of  tlie  States  are  enforced,  you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  an 
exchange  of  lands  with  them."  It  may  be  true,  that  if  we  withdraw  our 
protection,  give  them  over  to  the  high-handed,  heart-breaking  legislation 
of  the  States,  and  drive  them  to  despair,  ih:tt  when  improper  means  fail  to 
win  them,  f-rce  and  terror  may  compel  them.  We  shall  have  no  diffi- 
culty, the  agent  assures  the  War  Department.  Sir,  there  will  be  one 
difficulty  that  should  be  deemed  insurmountable.  Such  a  process  will 
disgrace  us  in  the  estimation  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  It  will  de- 
grade us  in  our  own  eyes,  and  blot  the  page  of  our  history  with  indelible 
dishonor. 

Now,  Sir,  I  have  brought  this  measure  before  the  Senate,  and  wait 
with  intense  anxiety  to  hear  the  final  disposition  of  it.  Where  is  the 
maa  that  can,  in  view  of  such  policy,  open  the  door,  or  afford  the  slight- 
est facility  to  the  operation  of  influences  that  we  should  blush  with 
honest  shame  could  we,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  consent  to  have  em- 
ployed them  with  our  equal  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  It  is  not  in- 
tended, Sir,  to  ascribe  this  policy  exclusively  to  the  present  Adminis-' 
tration.  Far  from  it.  The  truth  is,  we  have  long  been  gradually,  and 
almost  unconsciously,  declining  into  these  devious  ways,  and  we  shall 
inflict  lasting  injury  upon  our  good  name,  unless  we  speedily  abandon 
them. 

I  now  proceed  to  the  discussion  of  those  principles  wbicb,in  my  hum- 
ble judgment,  fully  and  clearly  sustain  the  claims  of  the  Indians  to  all 
their  political  and  civil  rights,  as  by  them  asserted. 

And  here,  Mr.  President,  I  insist  that,  by  immemorial  possession,  as 
the  original  tenants  of  the  soil,  they  hold  a  title  beyond  and  superior  to 
the  British  crown  and  her  colonies,  and  to  all  adverse  pretensions  of  our 
confederation  and  subsequent  Union.  God,  in  his  Providence,  planted 
these  tribes  on  this  Western  continent,  so  far  as  we  know,  before  Great 
Britain  herself  had  a  political  existence.  I  believe,  Sir,  it  is  not  now 
seriously  denied  that  the  Indians  are  men,  endowed  with  kindred  facul- 
ties and  powers  with  ourselves ;  that  they  have  a  place  in  human  syni 
pathy,  and  are  justly  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  common  bounties  of  a 
benignant  Providence.  And,  with  this  conceded,  I  ask  in  what  code  of 
the  law  of  nation,  or  by  what  process  of  abstract  deduction,  their  lights 
have  been  extinguished  f 

Where  is  the  decree  or  ordinance  that  has  stripped  these  early  and 
first  lords  of  the  soil  ?  Sir,  no  record  of  such  measure  can  be  found. 
And  I  might  triumphantly  rest  the  hopes  of  these  feeble  fragments  of 
once  great  nations  upon  this  impregnable  foundation.  However  mere 
human  policy,  or  the  law  of  power,  or  the  tyrant's  plea  of  expediency, 
may  have  found  it  convenient  at  any  or  in  all  times  to  recede  from  the 
unchangeable  principles  of  eternal  justice,  no  argument  can  shake  the 
political  maxim — that  where  the  Indian  always  has  been,  he  enjoys  an 
absolute  right  still  to  be,  in  the  free  exercise  of  his  own  modes  of  thought, 
government  and  conduct. 

Mr.  President :  In  the  light  of  natural  law,  can  a  reason  for  a  distinction 
exist  in  the  mode  of  enjoying  that  which  is  my  own.  If  I  use  it  for  hunting 
may  another  take  it  because  he  needs  it  for  agriculture  ?  I  am  aware  that 
some  writers  bave,  by  a  system  of  artificial  reasoning,  endeavored  to 
justify,  or  rather,  excuse  the  encroachments  made  upon  Indian  territory  ; 
and  they  denominate  these  abstractions  the  law  of  nations,  and,  io  this 


ready  way,  the  question  is  despatched.  Sir,  as  we  trace  the  sources  of 
this  law,  we  find  its  authority  lo  depend  either  upon  the  conventions  or 
common  consent  of  nations.  And  when,  permit  me  to  inquire,  were  the 
Indian  tribes  ever  consulted  on  the  establishment  of  such  a  law  ?  Who- 
ever represented  them  or  their  interests  iu  any  Congress  of  nations,  to 
confer  upon  the  public  rules  of  intercourse,  and  the  proper  foundations 
of  dominion  and  property  ?  The  plain  matter  of  fact  is,  that  all  these 
partial  doctrines  have  resulted  from  the  selfish  plans  and  pursuits  of 
more  enlightened  nations ;  and  it  is  not  matter  for  any  great  wonder, 
lhat  they  should  so  largely  partake  of  a  mercenary  and  exclusive  spirit 
towards  the  claims  of  the  Indians. 

It  is  however  admitted,  Sir,  that  when  the  increase  of  population  and 
the  wants  of  mankind  demand  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,  a  duty  is 
thereby  devolved  upon  the  proprietors  of  large  and  uncultivated  regions, 
of  devoting  them  to  such  useful  purposes.  But  such  appropriations  are  to 
be  obtained  by  fair  contract,  and  for  reasonable  compensation,  ft  is,  in 
such  a  case,  the  duty  of  the  proprietor  to  sell — we  may  properly  address 
his  reason  to  induce  him  ;  but  we  cannot  rightfully  compel  the  cession 
of  his  lands,  or  take  them  by  violence  if  his  consent  be  withheld  It  is 
with  great  satisfaction,  that  I  am  enabled  upon  the  best  authority  to 
affirm,  that  this  duty  has  been  largely  and  generously  met  and  fulfilled 
on  the  part  of  the  aboriginal  proprietors  of  this  continent.  Several  years 
ago,  official  reports  to  Congress  stated  the  amount  of  Indian  grants  to 
the  United  States  to  exceed  214  millions  of  acres.  Yes,  Sir,  we  have 
acquired,  and  now  own,  more  land  as  the  fruits  of  their  bounty  than  we 
shall  dispose  of  at  the  present  rate  to  actual  settlers  in  two  hundred 
years.  For,  very  recently,  it  has  been  ascertained  on  this  floor,  that  our 
public  sales  average  not  more  than  about  one  million  of  acres  annually. 
It  greatly  aggravates  the  wrong  that  is  now  meditated  against  these  tribes 
to  survey  the  rich  and  ample  districts  of  their  territories  that  either  force 
or  persuasion  have  incorporated  into  our  public  domains.  As  the  tide 
of  our  population  has  rolled  on,  we  have  added  purchase  to  purchase — 
the  confiding  Indian  listened  to  our  professions  of  friendship — we  called 
him  brother,  and  he  believed  us — millions  after  millions,  he  has  yielded 
to  our  importunity,  until  we  have  acquired  more  than  can  be  cultivated 
in  centuries— and  yet  we  crave  more.  We  have  crowded  the  tribes 
upon  a  few  miserable  acres  on  our  Southern  frontier — it  is  all  that  is  left 
to  them  of  their  once  boundless  forests,  and  still,  like  the  horseleech,  our 
insatiated  cupidity  cries  give,  give. 

Before  1  proceed  to  deduce  collateral  confirmations  of  this  original 
title,  from  all  our  political  intercourse  and  conventions  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  I  beg  leave  to  pause  a  moment,  and  view  the  case  as  it  lies  beyond 
the  treaties  made  with  them ;  and  aside  also  from  all  conflicting  claims 
between  the  confederation  and  the  colonies,  and  the  Congress  of  the 
States.  Our  ancestors  found  these  people,  far  removed  from  the  commo- 
tions of  Europe,  exercising  all  the  rights,  and  enjoying  the  privileges  of 
free  and  independent  sovereigns  of  this  new  world.  They  were  not  a 
wild  and  lawless  horde  of  banditti;  but  lived  under  the  restraints  of  Go- 
vernment, patriarchal  in  its  character  and  energetic  in  its  influence. 
They  had  chiefs,  head  men  and  councils.  The  white  men,  the  authors 
of  all  their  wrongs,  approached  them  as  friends — they  extended  the  olive 
branch,  and  being  then  a  feeble  colony,  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  native 


9 

tenants  of  the  soil,  by  presents  and  professions,  propitiated  their  good 
will.  The  Indian  yielded  a  slow,  but  substantial  confidence — granted 
to  the  colonies  an  abiding  place,  and  suffered  them  to  grow  up  to  man's 
estate  beside  him.  He  never  raised  the  claim  of  elder  title — as  the 
white  man's  wants  increased,  he  opened  the  hand  of  his  bounty  wider 
and  wider.  By  and  by,  conditions  are  changed.  His  people  melt 
away  ;  his  lands  are  constantly  coveted  ;  millions  after  millions  are  ceded. 
The  Indian  bears  it  all  meekly ;  he  complains,  indeed,  as  well  he  may  ; 
but  suffers  on  ;  and  now  he  finds  that  this  neighbor,  whom  his  kinHness 
had  nourished,  has  spread  an  adverse  title  over  the  last  remains  of  his 
patrimony,  barely  adequate  to  his  wants,  and  turns  upon  him,  and  says: 
"  away,  we  cannot  -pndure  you  so  near  us.  These  forests  and  rivers, 
these  groves  of  your  fathers,  these  firesides  and  hunting  grounds,  are  ours 
by  the  right  of  power,  and  the  force  of  numbers."  Sir,  let  every  treaty 
be  blotted  from  our  records,  and  in  the  judgment  of  natural  and  un- 
changeable truth  and  justice,  I  ask  who  is  the  injured,  and  who  is  the 
aggressor  ?  Let  conscience  answer,  and  I  fear  not  the  result.  Sir,  let 
those  who  please,  denounce  the  public  feeling  on  this  subject,  as  the 
morbid  excitement  of  a  false  humanity;  but  I  return  with  the  inquiry, 
whether  I  have  not  presented  the. case  truly,  with  no  feature  of  it  over- 
charged or  distorted?  And,  irr  view  of  it,  who  can  help  feeling,  Sir? 
Do  the  obligations  of  justice  change  with  the  color  of  the  skin  ?  Is  it 
one  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  white  man,  that  he  may  disregard  the  dic- 
tates of  moral  principles,  when  an  Indian  shall  be  concerned  ?  No,  Mr. 
President.  In  that  severe  and  impartial  scrutiny  which  futurity  will  cast 
over  this  subject,  the  righteous  award  will  be,  that  those  very  causes  which 
are  now  pleaded  for  the  relaxed  enforcement  of  the  rules  of  equity,  urg- 
ed upon  us  not  only  a  rigid  execution  of  the  highest  justice,  to  the  vety 
letter,  but  claimed  at  our  hands  a  generous  and  magnanimous  policy. 

Standing  here,  then,  on  this  unshaken  basis,  how  is  it  possible  that 
even  a  shadow  of  claim  to  soil  or  jurisdiction  can  be  derived,  by  forming 
a  collateral  issue  between  the  State  of  Georgia  and  the  General  Govern- 
ment? Her  complaint  is  made  against  the  United  States,  for  encroach- 
ments on  her  sovereignty.  Sir,  the  Cherokees  are  no  parties  to  this 
issue ;  they  have  no  part  in  this  controversy.  They  hold  by  better  title 
than  either  Georgia  or  the  Union.  They  have  nothing  to  do  with  State 
sovereignty,  or  United  States  sovereignty.  The}'  are  above  and  beyond 
both.  True,  Sir,  they  have  made  treaties  with  both,  but  not  lo^acquire 
title  or  jurisdiction  ;  these  they  had  before — ages  before  the  evil  hour,  to 
them,  when  their  white  brothers  fled  to  them  for  an  asylum.  They 
treated,  to  secure  protection  and  guaranty  for  subsisting  powers  and 
privileges ;  and  so  far  as  those  conventions  raise  obligations,  they  are 
willing  to  meet,  and  always  have  met,  and  faithfully  performed  them  ; 
and  now  expect  from  a  great  People,  the  like  fidelity  to  plighted  cove- 
nants. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  bring  this  question  up  to  the  control  of  first 
principles.  I  forget  all  that  we  have  promised,  and  all  that  Georgia 
has  repeatedly  conceded;  and  by  her  conduct  confirmed.  Sir,  in  this 
abstract  presentation  of  the  case,  stripped  of  every  collateral  circum- 
stance, and  these  only,  the  more  firmly  establish  the  Indian  claims,  thus 
regarded  ;  if  the  contending  parties  were  to  exchange  positions  ;  place 
the  white  man  where  the  Indian  stands ;  load  h\m  with  all  these  wrongs, 


10 

and  what  path  would  his  outraged  feelings  strike  out  for  his  career  ? 
Twenty  shillings  tax,  t  think  it  was,  imposed  upon  thej  immortal  Hamp- 
den,  roused  into  activity  the  slumbering  fires  of  liberty  in  the  old  world, 
from  which  she  dates  a  glorious  epoch,  whose  healthful  influence  still 
cherishes  the  spirit  of  freedom.  A  few  pence  of  duty  on  tea,  that  in- 
vaded no  fireside,  excited  no  fears,  disturbed  no  substantial  interest  what- 
ever, awakened  in  the  American  colonies  a  spirit  of  firm  resistance  ; 
and  how  was  the  tea  tax  met,  Sir  ?  Just  as  it  should  be.  There  was 
lurking  beneath  this  trifling  imposition  of  duty,  a  covert  assumption  of 
authority,  that  led  directly  to  oppressive  exactions.  "  No  taxation  with- 
out representation"  became  our, motto.  We  would  neither  pay  the  tax 
nor  drink  the  tea.  Our  fathers  buckled  on  their  armour,  and,  from  the 
water's  edge,  repelled  the  encroachments  of  a  misguided  cabinet.  We 
successfully  and  triumphantly  contended  for  the  very  rights  and  privi- 
leges that  our  Indian  neighbors  now  implore  us  to  protect  and  preserve 
to  them.  Sir,  this  thought  invests  the  subject  under  debate  with  most 
singular  and  momentous  interest.  llre,  whom  God  has  exalted  to  the 
very  summits  of  prosperity — whose  brief  career  forms  the  brightest  page 
in  history  ;  the  wonder  and  praise  of  the  world  ;  Freedom's  hope,  and 
her  consolation.  \\  c.^  about  to  turn  traitors  to  our  principles  and  our 
fame — about  to  become  the  oppressors  of  the  feeble,  and  to  cast  away 
our  birth-right !  Mr.  President,  I  hope  for  better  things. 

It  is  a  subject  fall  of  grateful  satisfaction,  Mr.  President,  that,  in  our 
public  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  ever  since  the  first  colonies  of  white 
men  found  an  abode  on  these  western  shores,  we  have  distinctly  recognised 
their  title  ;  treated  with  them  as  the  owners,  and  in  all  our  acquisitions  of 
territory  applied  ourselves  to  these  ancient  proprietors,  by  purchase  and 
cession  alone,  to  obtain  the  right  of  soil.  Sir,  I  challenge  the  record  of 
any  other  or  different  pretension.  When  or  where  did  the  assembly  or 
convention  meet  which  proclaimed,  or  even  suggested  to  these  tribes,  that 
the  right  of  discovery  contained  a  superior  efficacy  over  all  prior  titles. 

And  our  recognition  was  not  confined  to  the  soil  merely.  We  re- 
garded them  as  nations — far  behind  us  indeed  in  civilization,  but  still  we 
respected  their  forms  of  government — we  conformed  our  conduct  to  their 
notions  of  civil  policy.  We  were  aware  of  the  potency  of  any  edict  that 
sprang  from  the  deliberations  of  the  council  fire;  and  when  we  desired 
lands,  or  peace,  e>r  alliances  to  this  source  of  power  and  energy,  to  this 
great  lever  of  Indian  government  we  addressed  our  proposals — to  this 
alone  did  we  look,  and  from  this  alone  did  we  expect  aid  or  relief. 

I  now  proceed,  very  briefly,  to  trace  our  public  history  in  these  im- 
portant connexions.  As  early  as  1763,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by 
the  King  of  Great  Britain  to  his  American  colonies  and  dependencies, 
which,  in  clear  and  decided  terms,  and  in  the  spirit  of  honorable  regard 
for  Indian  privileges,  declared  the  opinions  of  the  Crown  and  the  duties 
of  its  subjects.  The  preamble  to  that  part  of  this  document  which  con- 
cerns Indian  affairs,  is  couched  in  terms  that  cannot  be  misunderstood. 
I  give  a  literal  extract :  "  And  whereas  it  is  just  and  reasonable,  and  es- 
sential to  our  interest,  and  the  security  of  our  colonies,  that  the  several 
nations  or  tribes  of  Indians  with  whom  we  are  connected,  and  who  live 
under  our  protection,  should  not  be  molested  or  disturbed  in  the  posses- 
sion of  such  parts  of  our  dominions  and  territories,  as  not  having  been 
ceded  to  or  purchased  by  us,  are  reserved  to  them  or  any  of  them  as 


II 

their  hunting  grounds/*'  Therefore  the  governors  of  colonies  are  prohibit* 
ed,  upon  any  pretence  whatever,  from  granting  any  warrants  of  survey, 
or  passing  any  patents  for  lands,  "upon  any  lands  whatever,  which,  not 
having  been  ceded  or  purchased,  were  reserved  to  the  said  Indians  ;" 
and,  by  another  injunction  in  the  same  proclamation, "  all  persons  what- 
ever, who  have  either  wilfully  or  inadvertently  seated  themselves  upon 
any  lands,  which,  not  having  been  ceded  to  or  purchased  by  the  Crown, 
were  reserved  to  the  Indians  as  aforesaid,  are  strictly  enjoined  and  re- 
quired to  remove  themselves  from  such  settlements." 

This  royal  ordinance  is  an  unqualified  admission  of  every  principle 
that  is  now  urged  in  favor  of  the  liberties  and  rights  of  these  tribes.  It 
refers  to  them  as  nations  that  had  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  Crown  ;  and  adverting  to  the  fact  that  their  lands  had  not  been  ceded 
or  purchased)  it  freely  and  justly  runs  out  the  inevitable  conclusion  that, 
they  are  reserved  to  these  nations  as  their  property  ;  and  forbids  all  sur- 
veys and  patents,  and  warns  off  all  intruders  and  trespassers.  Sir,  this 
contains  the  epitome  of  Indian  history  and  title.  No  King,  Colony, 
State  or  Territory,  ever  made,  or  attempted  to  make,  a  grant  or  title  to 
the  Indians,  but  universally  and  perpetually  derived  their  titles/row  them, 
This  one  fact,  that  stands  forth  broadly  on  the  page  of  Indian  history — 
which  neither  kings  nor  colonies — neither  lords,  proprietors,  nor  diploma- 
tic agents,  have,  on  any  single  occasion,  disputed,  is  alone  sufficient  to 
demolish  the  whole  system  of  political  pretensions,  conjured  up  in  mo- 
dern times,  to  drive  the  poor  Indian  from  the  last  refuge  of  his  hopes. 

The  next  important  era  in  the  order  of  time,  relates  to  the  dispute  of 
the  Colonies  with  Great  Britain.  The  attention  of  the  Congress  on  the 
eve  of  that  conflict  was  called  to  the  situation  of  these  tribes,  and  their 
dispositions  on  that  interesting  subject.  Then,  Sir,  we  approached  them 
as  independent  nations,  with  the  acknowledged  power  to  form  alliances 
with  or  against  us.  For,  in  June,  1775,  our  Congress  resolved,"  That 
the  Committee  for  Indian  Affairs  do  prepare  proper  talks  to  the  several 
tribes  of  Indians,  for  engaging  the  continuance  of  their  friendship  to  us, 
and  neutrality  in  our  present  unhappy  dispute  with  Great  Britain." 
Again,  on  the  12th  July,  1775}  a  report  of  the  Committee  was  agreed  to, 
with  the  following  clause  at  its  head  :  "  That  the  securing  and  preserving 
the  friendship  of  the  Indian  nations,  appears  to  be  a  subject  of  the  ut- 
most moment  to  these  colonies."  And,  Sir,  the  journals  of  that  event- 
ful period  of  our  history  are  full  of  resolutions,  all  of  which  indicate  the 
same  opinions  of  those  illustrious  statesmen,  respecting  the  unquestioned 
sovereignty  of  the  Indians.  I  forbear  further  details.  After  the  revolu- 
tion, and  in  the  eighth  year  of  our  Independence,  in  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember, A.  D.  1783,  the  Congress  again  took  up  the  subject  of  Indian 
affairs,  and  resolved  to  hold  a  convention  with  the  Indians  residing  in  the 
Middle  and  Northern  States,  who  had  taken  up  arms  against  us,  for  the 
purposes  of  receiving  them  into  the  favor  and  protection  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  establishing  boundary  lines  of  property,  for  separating 
and  dividing  the  settlements  of  the  citizens  from  the  Indian  villages  and 
hunting  grounds,  and  thereby  extinguishing,  as  far  as  possible,  all  occa- 
sion for  future  animosities,  disquiet  and  contention."  If,  at  any  point  of 
our  existence  as  a  people,  a  disposition  to  encroach  upon  the  Indians, 
and  to  break  down  their  separate  and  sovereign  character,  could  have 
been  looked  for,  or  at  all  excused,  this  was  the  time  ;  when  we  had  just 


come  out  of  a  long,  severe  and  bloody  conflict,  often  prosecuted  by  out 
foes  with  unnatural  barbarity,  and  to  aggravate  which,  these  very  tribes 
had  devoted  their  savage  and  ferocious  customs.  And  yet,  Sir,  what  do 
we  find  ?  Instead  of  the  claims  of  conquest,  the  rights  of  war,  now  so 
convenient  to  set  up,  the  American  Congress,  greatly  just,  accord  to 
these  very  Indians  the  character  of  foreign  nations,  and  invite  them  to 
take  shelter  under  our  favor  and  protection;  not  only  this,  but  adopt 
measures  to  ascertain  and  establish  boundary  lines  of  property  between 
our  citizens  and  their  villages  and  hunting  grounds. 

Under  the  confederation  of  the  old  thirteen  States,  and  shortly 
before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  on  the  20th  of  November, 
1785,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Cherokee  nation  at  Hopewell. 
This  treaty,  according  to  its  title,  was  concluded  between  "  Commis- 
sioners Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America,  of  the  one  part, 
and  the  Headmen  and  Warriors  of  all  the  Cherokees,  of  the  other." 
It  gives  "  peace  to  all  the  Cherokees,"  and  receives  them  into  the  favor 
and  protection  of  the  United  States.  And,  by  the  first  article,  the  Che- 
rokees agree  to  restore  all  the  prisoners,  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
or  subjects  of  their  allies,  to  their  entire  liberty."  Here,  again,  we  dis- 
cover the  same  magnanimous  policy  of  renouncing  any  pretended  rights 
of  a  conqueror  in  our  negotiations  with  the  allies  of  our  enemy.  We 
invite  them  to  peace  ;  we  engage  to  become  their  protectors,  and  in  the 
stipulation  for  the  liberation  of  prisoners,  we  trace  again  the  broad  line 
of  distinction  between  citizens  uf  the  United  States  and  the  Cherokee 
people. 

Who,  after  this,  Sir,  can  retain  a  single  doubt  as  to  the  unquestioned 
political  sovereignty  of  these  tribes.  It  is  very  true,  that  they  were  not 
absolutely  independent.  As  they  had  become  comparatively  feeble,  and 
as  they  were,  in  the  mass,  an  uncivilized  race,  they  chose  to  depend  upon 
us  for  protection ;  but  this  did  not  destroy  or  affect  their  sovereignty. 
The  rule  of  public  law  is  clearly  stated  by  Vattel — "  one  community  may 
be  bound  to  another  by  a  very  unequal  alliance,  and  still  be  a  sovereign 
State.  Though  a  weak  State,  in  order  to  provide  for  its  safely,  should 
place  itself  under  the  protection  of  a  more  powerful  one,  yet,  if  it  reserves 
to  itself  the  right  of  governing  its  own  body,  it  ought  to  be  considered  as 
an  independent  State."  If  the  right  of  self-government  is  retained,  the 
State  preserves  its  political  existence ;  and,  permit  me  to  ask,  when  did 
the  Southern  Indians  relinquish  this  right?  Sir,  they  have  always  exer- 
cised it,  and  were  never  disturbed  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  until  the  late 
Legislation  of  Georgia  and  the  States  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi. 

The  treaty  next  proceeds  to  establish  territorial  domains,  and  to  forbid 
all  intrusions  upon  the  Cherokee  country,  by  any  of  our  citizens,  on  the 
pains  of  outlawry.  It  provides,  that  if  any  citizen  of  the  United  States 
shall  remain  on  the  lands  of  the  Indians  for  six  months  "  after  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  treaty,  such  person  shall  forfeit  the  protection  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  Indians  may  punish  him  or  not,  as  they  please."  What 
stronger  attribute  of  sovereignty  could  have  been  conceded  to  this  tribe, 
than  to  have  accorded  to  them  the  power  of  punishing  our  citizens  ac- 
cording to  their  own  laws  and  modes;  and,  Sir,  what  more  satisfactory 
proof  can  be  furnished  to  the  Senate,  of  the  sincere  and  inflexible  pur- 
pose of  our  government  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the  Indian  nations, 
than  the  annexation  of  such  sanctions  as  the  forfeiture  of  national  pro- 


13 

tection,  and  the  infliction  of  any  punishment  within  the  range  of  savage 
discretion.  It  is  to  be  recollected,  that  this  treaty  was  made  at  a  time 
when  all  admit  the  Cherokees  to  have  been,  with  very  rare  exceptions, 
in  the  rudest  state  of  Pagan  darkness. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  really  a  subject  of  wonder,  that  after  these  repeated 
and  solemn  recognitions  of  right  of  soil,  territory  and  jurisdiction,  in 
these  aboriginal  nations,  it  should  be  gravely  asserted  that  they  are  mere 
occupants  at  our  will ;  and,  what  is  absolutely  marvellous,  that  they  are 
a  part  of  the  Georgia  population — a  district  of  her  territory,  and  amen- 
able to  her  laws,  whenever  she  chooses  to  extend  them. 

After  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  was  made  and  ratified,  and  in  the  year 
1787,  the  States  of  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  transmitted  their  pro- 
tests to  Congress,  in  which  they  complained  of  the  course  of  transactions 
adopted  with  respect  to  the  Indians,  and  asserted  a  right  in  the  States  to 
treat  with  these  tribes,  and  to  obtain  grants  of  their  lands.  The  Congress 
referred,the  whole  matter  to  a  Committee  of  five,  who  made  an  elaborate 
report,  that  disclosed  the  principles  upon  which  the  intercourse  of  the 
confederacy  with  these  people  was  founded.  It  is  material  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  this  branch  of  the  subject,  that  we  should  advert  to  a 
limitation,  subsisting  at  that  time,  upon  the  powers  of  the  old  Con- 
gress. The  limitation  is  contained  in  the  following  clause  of  the  articles 
of confedeiation : — "Congress  shall  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right 
and  power  of  regulating  the  trade  and  managing  all  affairs  with  the  In- 
dians not  members  of  any  other  States :  provided  that  the  legislative 
right  of  any  State  within  its  own  limits  be  not  infringed  or  violated." 

Upon  this  clause  and  its  proviso,  the  Committee  proceed  to  report : 
"In  framing  this  clause  the  parties  to  the  federal  compact  must  have  had 
some  definite  objects  in  view;  the  objects  that  come  into  view  princi- 
pally in  forming  treaties,  or  managing  affairs  with  the  Indians,  had  been 
long  understood,  and  pretty  well  ascertained,  in  this  country.  The 
Committee  conceive  that  it  has  been  long  the  opinion  of  the  country, 
supported  by  justice  and  humanity,  that  the  Indians  have  just  claims  to 
all  lands  occupied  by,  and  not  fairly  purchased  from  them."  "  The 
laws  of  the  State  can  have  no  effect  upon  a  tribe  of  Indians  or  their  lands 
within  a  State,  so  long  as  that  tribe  is  independent  aod  not  a  member  of 
the  State.  It  cannot  be  supposed  tbat  the  State  has  the  powers  mention- 
ed,'' (those  of  making  war  and  peace,  purchasing  lands  from  them  and 
fixing  boundaries,)  "  without  absurdity  in  theory  and  practice.  For  the 
Indian  tribes  are  justly  considered  the  common  friends  or  enemies  of  the 
United  States,  and  no  particular  State  can  have  an  exclusive  interest  in 
the  management  of  affairs  with  any  of  the  tribes,  except  in  uncommon 
cases."  The  Senate  perceive  the  estimate  that  was  formed  of  these 
State  pretensions.  The  Committee  argue  with  conclusive  energy,  that 
to  yield  such  powers  to  particular  States,  would  not  ouly  be  absurd  in 
theory,  but  would  in  fact  destroy  the  whole  system  of  Indian  relations — 
that  this  divided,  alternate  cognisance  of  the  matter,  by  the  States  and  by 
the  Congress,  coulcl  never  be  enforced,  and  would  result  in  discordant 
and  fruitless  regulations.  The  grounds  assumed  in  this  able  report  are 
unanswerable.  The  Committee  regarded  the  subject  as  national,  con- 
cerning the  whole  United  States,  of  whom  the  Indians  xvere  the  common 
friends  or  foes.  That  such  a  concern  was  too  general  and  public  in  all 
its  bearings,  to  be  subjected  to  the  legislation  and  management  of  any 


14 

particular  State.  The  Congress,  therefore,  assumed  the  entire  jurisdiction 
and  control  of  it.  And  after  this  report,  we  hear  no  more  of  State  pro- 
tests. They  yielded  their  claims  to  a  much  safer  depositary  of  this  inte- 
resting trust.  Sir,  I  take  leave  to  say,  that  the  sound,  sensible  principles 
of  this  report  have  lost  nothing  of  their  authority  by  time,  and  that 
every  year  of  our  history  has  confirmed  their  wisdom ;  and  illustrated  the 
justice  and  humanity  of  the  Congress  of '87. 

The  Convention  that  formed  and  adopted  the  Constitution,  in  their 
deliberations  upon  the  security  of  Indian  rights,  wisely  determined  to 
place  our  relations  with  the  tribes  under  the  absolute  superintendence  of 
the  General  Government,  which  they  were  about  to  establish.  The  pro- 
viso under  the  old  compact,  that  had  in  ambiguous  terms  reserved  to 
particular  States  an  undefined  management  of  Indian  Affairs,  was  alto- 
gether discarded,  and  the  simple,  unqualified  control  of  this  important 
branch  of  public  policy,  was  delegated  to  Congress,  in  the  following 
clause  of  the  Constitution  :  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regulate  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations^  among  the  several  States,  and  with  the  In- 
dian tribes."  An  incidental  argument,  in  favor  of  my  views,  cannot 
fail  to  strike  the  mind  on  the  face  of  this  clause.  The  plea  that  is  now, 
for  the  first  time,  urged  against  the  Indians,  rests  upon  the  allegation, 
that  the  tribes  are  not  distinct  nations — that  they  compose  a  portion  of 
the  people  of  the  States ;  and  yet,  in  this  great  national  charter,  the 
work  of  as  much  collected  wisdom,  virtue  and  patriotism,  as  ever  adorned 
the  annals,  or  shed  light  upon  the  government  of  any  age  or  country,  the 
Indian  tribes  are  associated  with  foreign  nations  and  the  several  States, 
as  one  of  the  three  distinct  departments  of  the  human  family,  with  which 
the  General  Government  was  to  relugate  commerce.  Strange  company, 
truly,  in  which  to  find  those  it  now  seems  convenient  to  denominate  a 
few  poor,  miserable  savages,  that  were  always  the  peculiar  subjects  of 
State  sovereignty,  mere  tenants  at  will  of  the  soil,  and  with  whom  it  is 
"idle"  to  speak  of  negotiating  treaties. 

There  was  another  subject,  closely  connected  with  this,  that  engaged 
the  anxious  deliberations  of  the  great  statesmen  who  composed  the  me- 
morable convention — and  this  was  the  treaty  power.  To  found  this 
well,  was  a  concern  worthy  of  their  first  and  best  thoughts.  The  good 
faith  of  a  nation  was  not  to  be  pledged  but  on  grave  and  great  occa- 
sions :  for  when  plighted,  it  brought  the  nation  itself  under  obligations, 
too  sacred  to  be  argued  away  by  the  suggestions  of  policy  or  convenience, 
profit  or  loss.  They,  therefore,  subjected  the  exercise  of  this  high  func- 
tion to  two  great  departments  of  the  Government — the  President  and 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  They  required  formalities  to  attend  the 
exercise  of  the  power,  that  were  intended  and  calculated  to  guard  the 
trust  from  rash  and  inconsiderate  administration.  But  these  requisites 
complied  with,  and  a  treaty  made  and  concluded,  no  retreat  from  its 
claims  was  provided  or  desired  by  the  convention.  No,  Sir.  To  shut 
up  every  avenue  of  escape — to  compel  us  to  be  faithful,  "  Treaties"  are 
declared,  by  the  charter  of  our  Government, "  to  be  the  supreme  law  cf 
the  land,  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding."  How  could  the  inviolate  character  of  a  treaty 
be  more  effectually  preserved  ?  Let  convulsions  agitate  the  common- 
wealth— let  the  strifes  of  party  skake  the  pillars  of  the  political  edifice — 
around  the  nation's  faith  barriers  are  raised,  that  may  smile  at  the  siorm. 


And,  Sir,  if  these  guards  fail ;  if  these  defences  can  be  assailed  and 
broken  down,  then  may  we  indeed  despair.  Truth  and  honor  have  no 
citadel  on  earth — their  sanctions  are  despised  and  forgotten,  and  the  law 
of  the  strongest  prevails. 

Mr.  President,  I  fear  that  I  shall  oppress  the  patience  of  the  Senate  by 
these  tedious  details — but  the  subject  is  deeply  interesting,  and  each  suc- 
cessive year  of  our  political  history  brings  me  fresh  and  strong  proofs  of 
the  sacred  estimation  always  accorded  to  Indian  rights.  Sir,  in  the  very 
next  year  that  followed  the  formation  of  the  Constitution,  on  the  first  of 
September,  1788,  the  encroachments  of  the  whites  upon  the  Indian  ter- 
ritory, as  guarantied  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  made  with  the 
Cherokees,  as  we  have  already  stated,  in  1785,  caused  a  proclamation  to 
be  issued  by  Congress,  of  the  date  first  mentioned,  affirming  in  all  things 
the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  and  distinctly  announcing,  (I  give  the  literal 
clause,)  "  the  firm  determination  of  Congress  to  protect  the  said  Chero- 
kees in  their  rights,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  said 
treaty."  And  they  further  resolve  "that  the  Secretary  of  War  be  direct- 
ed to  have  a  sufficient  number  of  the  troops  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  in  readiness  to  march  from  the  Ohio,  to  the  protection  of  the  Che- 
rokees, whenever  Congress  shall  direct  the  same." 

The  next  important  event  in  connexion  with  the  Cherokees,  is  the 
treaty  of  Holston,  made  with  them  on  the  2d  July,  179-1.  This  was  the 
first  treaty  that  was  negotiated  with  the  Cherokees  after  the  Constitution. 
And  it  is  only  necessary  to  consider  the  import  of  its  preamble  to  be- 
come satisfied  of  the  constancy  of  our  policy,  in  adhering  to  the  first 
principles  of  our  Indian  negotiations.  Sir,  let  it  be  remembered  that  this 
was  a  crisis  when  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution  would  be  best  under- 
stood ;  most  of  those  who  framed  it  came  into  the  councils  of  the  country 
in  1788.  Let  it  be  well  pondered,  that  this  treaty  of  Holston  was  the 
public  compact,  in  which  General  Washington,  as  a  preparative  solemni- 
ty, asked  the  advice  of  the  Senate — and  concerning  which  he  inquired  of 
that  venerable  body,  whether,  in  the  treaty  to  be  made,  the  United  States 
should  solemnly  guarantee  the  new  boundary,  to  be  ascertained  and  fixed 
Between  them  and  the  Cherokees. 

The  preamble  to  this  treaty,  I  will  now  recite  : 

"  The  parties  being  desirous  of  establishing  permanent  peace  and 
friendship  between  the  United  States  and  the  said  Cherokee  nation  and 
the  citizens  and  members  thereof,  and  to  remove  the  causes  of  war,  by 
ascertaining  their  limits  and  making  other  necessary,  just  and  friendly 
arrangements :  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  William  Blount, 
Governor  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  of  America  South  of  the 
river  Ohio,  and  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  (he  Southern  Dis- 
trict, who  is  vested  with  full  powers  for  these  purposes,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States;  and  the  Chero- 
kee nation,  by  the  undersigned  Chiefs  and  Warriors  representing  the  said 
nation,  have  agreed  to  the  following  articles,"  &c. 

The  first  article  stipulates  that  there  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and 
friendship  between  the  parties— a  subsequent  article  provides  that  the 
boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Cherokees  "  shall  be  ascertained 
and  marked  plainly,  by  three  persons  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  three  Cherokees  on  the  part  of  their  nation." 

In  pursuance  of  the  advice  of  the  Senate,  by  the  7th  article  of  this 


16 

ircaty,  "  The  United  States  solemnly  guarantee  to  the  Cherokee  nation 
all  their  lands  not  hereby  ceded." 

And  after  several  material  clauses,  the  concluding  article  suspends  the 
effect  and  obligation  of  the  treaty  upon  its  ratification  "  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States." 

Now,  Sir,  it  is  a  most  striking  part  of  this  history,  that  every  possible 
incident,  of  form,  deliberation,  advisement  and  power,  attended  this  com- 
pact. The  Senate  was  consulted  before  our  plenipotentiary  was  commis- 
sioned— fell  powers  were  then  given  to  our  Commissioner — the  articles 
were  agreed  upon — the  treaty  referred  to  the  Executive  and  Senate  for 
their  ratification,  and,  with  all  its  provisions,  by  them  solemnly  confirmed. 

Mr.  President,  it  requires  a  fulness  of  self-respect  and  sulf-confidence, 
the  lot  of  a  rare  few,  after  time  has  added  its  sanctions  to  this  high  pledge 
of  national  honor,  to  attempt  to  convict  the  illustrious  men  of  thru  Se- 
nate of  gross  ignorance  of  constitutional  power;  to  charge  against  them 
that  they  strangely  mistook  the  charter  under  which  they  acted ;  and 
violated  almost  the  proprieties  of  language, .as  some  gentlemen  contend, 
by  dignifying  with  the  name  and  fornidlities  of  a  treaty"  mere  bargains 
to  get  Indian  lands."  Sir,  who  so  well  understood  Ihe  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  powers  granted  in  the  constitution  as  the  statesmen  who  aided 
by  their  personal  counsels  to  establish  it? 

Every  Administration  of  this  Government,  from  President  Washing- 
ton's, have,  with  like  solemnities  and  stipulations,  held  treaties  with  the 
Cherokees  ;  treaties,  too,  by  almost  all  of  which  we  obtained  further  ac- 
quisitions of  their  territory.  Yes,  Sir,  whenever  we  approached  them  in 
the  language  of  friendship  and  kindness,  we  touched  the  chord  that  wo.n 
their  confidence  :  and  now,  when  they  have  nothing  left  with  which  to 
satisfy  our  cravings,  we  propose  to  annul  every  treaty — to  gainsay  our 
word — and,  by  violence  and  perfidy,  drive  the  Indian  from  his  home, 
ID  a  subsequent  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  Cherokee  na- 
tion, concluded  on  the  8th  July,  A.  D.  1817,  express  reference  is  made 
to  past  negotiations  between  the  parties,  on  the  subject  01  removal  to  the 
west  of  the  Mississippi;  the  same  question  that  n«.«w  agitates  the  coun- 
try, and  engages  our  deliberations.  And  this  convention  is  deserving  of 
particular  notice,  inasmuch  as  we  shall  learn  from  it,  not  only  what  sen- 
timents were  then  entertained  by  our  Government  towards  the  Chero- 
kees, but,  also,  in  what  light  the  different  dispositions  of  the  Indians  to 
emigrate  to  the  West,  and  to  remain  on  their  ancient  patrimony,  were 
considered.  This  treaty  recites  that  application  had  been  made  to  the 
United  States,  at  a  previous  period,  by  a  deputation  of  the  Cherokees, 
[on  the  9th  January,  1809,]  by  which  they  apprised  the  Government  of 
the  wish  of  a  part  of  their  nation  to  remove  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
of  the  residue  to  abide  in  their  old  habitations.  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  after  maturely  considering  the  subject,  answered  the  peti- 
tions as  follows  :  "  The  United  States,  my  children,  are  the  friends  of 
both  parties,  and,  as  far  as  can  be  reasonably  asked,  they  are  willing  to 
satisfy  the  wishes  of  both.  Those  who  remain  may  be  assured  of  our 
patronage,  our  aid,  and  our  good  neighborhood."  "  To  those  who  remove, 
every  aid  shall  be  administered,  and  when  established  at  their  new  settle- 
ments, we  shall  still  consider  them  as  our  children,  and  always  hold  them 
firmly  by  the  hand."  The  convention  thin  establishes  new  boundaries, 


and  pledges  our  faith  to  respect  and  defend  the  Indian  territories.  Some 
matters,  Mr.  President,  by  universal  consent,  are  taken  as  grated, 
without  any  explicit  recognitl  -n.  Under  the  influence  of  this  rule  of 
common  fairness,  how  can  we  ever  dispute  the  sovereign  right  of  the 
Cherokees  to  remain  east  of  the  Mississippi,  when  it  was  in  relation  to 
that  very  location  that  we  promised  our  patronage,  aid  and  good  neigh- 
borhood ?  Sir,  is  this  high-handed  encroachment  of  Georgia  to  be  the 
commentary  upon  the  national  pledge  here  given,  and  the  obvious  im- 
port of  these  terms  ?  How  were  these  people  to  remain,  if  not  as  they 
then  existed,  and  as  we  then  acknowledged  them  to  be,  a  distinct  and  se- 
parate community,  governed  by  their  own  peculiar  laws  and  customs?  We 
can  never  deny  these  principles,  while  fair  dealing  retains  any  hold  of 
our  conduct.  Further,  Sir,  it  appears  from  this  treaty,  that  the  Indians 
who  preferred  to  remain  east  of  the  river,  expressed  c  to  the  President  an 
anxious  desire  to  engage  in  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  civilized  life 
in  the  country  they  then  occupied"  and  we  engaged  t«>  encourage  those 
laudable  purposes.  Indeed,  such  pursuits  had  been  recommended  to  the 
tribes,  and  patronized  by  the  United  States,  for  many  years  before  this 
convention.  >lr  Jefferson,  in  his  message  to  Congress  as  early  as  1805, 
and  when  on  the  subject  of  our  Indian  relations,  with  his  usual  enlarged 
views  of  public  policy,  observes,  "The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  these 
countries,  I  have  legardfd  with  the  commiseration  their  history  inspires. 
Endowed  with  the  faculties  and  the  rights  of  men,  breathing  an  ardent 
love  of  liberty  and  independence,  and  occupying  a  country  which  left 
them  no  desire  but  to  be  undisturbed,  the  stream  of  overflowing  popula- 
tion from  other  regions  directed  itself  on  these  shores.  Without  power 
to  divert,  or  habits  to  contend  against  it,  they  have  been  overwhelmed  by 
the  current  or  driven  before  it.  Now  reduced  within  limits  too  narrow 
for  the  hunter  state,  humanity  enjoins  us  to  teach  them  agriculture  and 
the  domestic  arts ;  to  encourage  them  to  that  industry  which  alone  can 
enable  them  to  maintain  their  place  in  existence;  and  to  prepare  them 
in  time  for  that  society  which,  to  bodily  comforts,  adds  the  improvement 
of  the  mind  and  morals.  We  have,  therefore,  liberally  furnished  them 
with  the  implements  of  husbandry,  and  household  use ;  we  have  placed 
am  ing  them  instructors  in  the  arts  of  first  necessity  ;  and  they  are  cover- 
ed with  the  ccgis  of  the  law  against  aggressors  from  among  ourselves." 
These,  Sir,  are  s  raiments  worthy  of  an  illustrious  statesman.  N»ne  can 
fail  to  perceive  the  spirit  of  justice  and  humanity  which  Mr.  Jtfferson 
cherished  towards  our  Indian  allies.  He  was,  through  his  whol^  life,  the 
firm  unshrinking  advocates  of  their  rights,  a  patron  of  all  their  plans  for 
moral  improvement  and  elevation. 

Mr.  President,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  pursue  the  details  of  our 
treaty  negotiations  further.  I  beg  leave  to  state,  before  I  leave  them, 
however,  that  with  all  the  Southwestern  tribf-s  of  Indians  we  have  similar 
treaties.  Not  only  the  Cherokees,  but  the  Creeks,  Choctaws  and  Chick- 
asaws,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Georgia,  Tennessre,  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi, hold  our  faith,  repeatedly  pledged  to  them,  that  we  would  res- 
pect their  boundaries,  repel  aggressions,  and  protect  and  nourish  them 
as  our  neighbors  and  friends  :  and  to  all  these  public  and  sacred  com- 
pacts, Georgia  was  a  constant  party.  They  were  required,  by  an  article 
never  omitted,  to  be  submitted  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  their 
advice  and  consent.  They  were  so  submitted :  and  Georgia,  by  her 
3 


18 

able  representatives  in  the  Senate,  united  in  the  ratification  of  these 
same  treaties,  without,  in  any  single  instance,  raising  an  exception,  or 
interposing  a  constitutional  difficulty  or  scruple. 

Other  branches  of  our  political  history  shed  abundant  light  upon  this 
momentous  question.  When  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  directed 
their  cares  to  the  future  settlement  and  government  of  the  vast  and  noble 
domains  to  the  Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,  ceded  by  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia, among  other  matters  which  they  deemed  to  be  vitally  connected 
with  the  welfare  of  that  region,  was  the  condition  and  preservation  of 
the  Indian  Nations.  The  third  article  of  their  celebrated  ordinance,  for 
the  government  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  is  in  the  following  words  : 
"  Religion,  morality  and  knowledge,  being  necessary  to  good  govern- 
ment and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the"means  of  education 
shall  forever  be  encouraged.  The  utmost  good  faith  shall  always  be 
observed  towards  the  Indians ;  their  lands  and  property  shall  never  be 
taken  from  them  without  their  consent;  and,  in  their  property,  rights 
and  liberty,  they  never  shall  be  invaded  or  disturbed,  unless  in  just  and 
lawful  wars,  authorized  by  Congress  ;  but  laws  founded  in  justice  and 
humanity  shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  made,  for  preventing  wrongs  be- 
ing done  to  them,  and  for  preserving  peace  aud  friendship  with  them." 
Sir,  the  more  minutely  we  look  into  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress  of 
1787,  the  more  deeply  shall  we  venerate  the  wisdom  and  virtue,  the 
largeness  of  views,  and  the  political  forecast,  that  blessed  and  illustrated 
the  councils  of  our  country.  This  solitary  article  would  forever  stand 
out,  and  alone  sustain  their  reputation.  We  shall  presently  learn  what 
concern  was  manifested  by  the  State  of  Georgia,  to  spread  the  whole 
influence  and  control  of  this  article  over  the  cession  which  she  made  to 
the  Union,  of  the  territory  now  composing  the  States  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi. 

How  can  Georgia,  after  all  this,  desire  or  attempt,  and  how  can  we 
quietly  permit  her, "  to  invade  and  disturb  the  property,  rights  and  liber- 
ty of  the  Indians?"  And  this,  not  only  not  "  in  just  and  lawful  wars  au- 
thorized by  Congress,"  but  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  while  the  Che- 
rokee lives  in  tranquil  prosperity  by  her  side.  I  press  on  the  inquiry — 
How  can  we  tamely  suffer  these  States  to  make  laws,  not  only  not 
"  founded  injustice  and  humanity,"  "for  preventing  wrongs  being  done 
to  the  Indians,"  but  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  inflicting  the  gross  and 
wanton  injustice  of  breaking  up  their  governments — of  abrogating  their 
long  cherished  customs,  and  of  annihilating  their  existence  as  a  distinct 
people  ? 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  1799,  in  an  act  to  regulate  trade 
and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes ;  and  again,  by  a  similar  act  in 
1802,  still  in  force,  distinctly  recognised  every  material  stipulation  con- 
tained in  the  numerous  treaties  with  the  Indians.  In  fact,  Sir,  these  acts 
of  legislation  were  passed  exprbssly  to  effectuate  our  treaty  stipulations.* 

These  statutes  refer  to  "  the  boundaries,  as  established  by  treaties,  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  the  various  Indian  tribes ;"  they  next  direct 
such  "  lines  to  be  clearly  ascertained,  and  distinctly  marked" — prohibit 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States  from  crossing  these  lines,  to  hunt  or  set- 
tle, and  authorize  the  employment  of  the  public  and  military  force  of 
the  Government,  to  prevent  intrusion,  and  to  expel  trespassers  upon  In- 
dian lands.  The  twelfth  section  of  this  important  law  most  wisely  guards 


19 

the  great  object  of  Indian  title  from  all  public  and  private  imposition,  by 
enacting  "  that  no  purchase,  grant,  lease  or  other  conveyance  of  lands, 
or  of  any  title  or  claim  thereto,  from  any  Indian  or  nation,  or  tribe  of 
Indians,  within  the  bounds  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  of  any  validity 
in  law  or  equity,  unless  the  same  be  made  by  treaty  or  convention,  en- 
tered into  pursuant  to  the  Constitution" 

I  trust,  Sir,  that  this  brief  exposition  of  our  policy,  in  relation  to  Indian 
affairs,  establishes,  beyond  all  controversy,  the  obligation  of  the  United 
States  to  protect  these  tribes,  in  the  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  their  civil 
and  political  rights.  Sir,  the  question  has  ceased  to  be — What  are  our 
duties  1  An  inquiry  much  more  embarrassing  is  forced  upon  us  :  How- 
shall  we  most  plausibly,  and  with  the  least  possible  violence,  break  our 
faith?  Sir,  we  repel  the  inquiry — we  reject  such  an  issue — and  point 
the  guardians  of  public  honor  to  the  broad,  plain  faith  of  faithful  per- 
formance, and  to  which  they  are  equally  urged  by  duty  and  by  interest. 

Here  I  might  properly  rest — as  the  United  States  are  the  only  party 
that  the  Indians  are  bound  to  regard.  But  if  further  proofs  be  wanting 
to  convince  us  of  the  unwarrantable  pretensions  of  Georgia,  in  her  late 
violent  legislation,  they  are  at  hand,  cogent,  clear  and  overwhelming. 
This  State,  Sir,  was  not  only  a  party  to  all  these  conventions  with  the 
General  Government ;  she  made  as  solemn  treaties  with  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees  for  herself,  when  a  colony,  and  after  she  became  a  State. 
These  form  a  part  of  her  title — and  are  bound  up  with  her  public  laws. 
On  the  first  of  June,  A.  D.  1773,  she  negotiated  a  treaty  with  these  In- 
dian nations,  by  the  joint  agency  of  the  Governor  of  the  Colony  and  the 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs;  in  which  boundaries  are  established 
and  cessions  of  land  agreed  upon.  Again,  on  the  31st  May,  A.  D.  If  83, 
after  her  Independence  as  a  State,  another  treaty  was  concluded  between 
the  Governor  of  Georgia  and  five  of  her  most  distinguished  citizens  duly 
appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Chiefs, 
Headmen  and  Warriors  of  the  hordes  or  tribes  of  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
"  in  behalf  of  the  said  nation,  on  the  other  part."  And  in  the  first  arti- 
cle of  this  convention,  the  distinct,  independent  existence  of  the  Chero- 
kees is  acknowledged  :  For  it  provides,"  that  all  differences  between  the 
said  parties,  heretofore  subsisting,  shall  cease  and  be  forgotten."  Is  it 
not  utterly  fallacious  to  contend,  in  the  face  of  this  treaty,  that  the  Che- 
rokees are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  State,  that  finds  it  necessary  to  ne- 
gotiate for  peace  with  them  by  all  the  forms  of  a  regular  treaty  ?  But 
more  than  this — by  the  last  article  of  this  treaty,  the  Cherokees  agree  to 
cede,  grant,  release  and  quit  claim  to  Georgia,  all  the  lands  tip  to  a  cer- 
tain boundary  line  defined  in  the"  said  document :  And  until  since  the 
extraordinary  usurpation  of  this  State,  in  extending  her  laws  over  this 
Dation,  these  treaty  lines  were  respected,  and  never  disputed. 

In  the  year  1777,  the  States  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  met  the 
Creek  and  Cherokee  nations  at  Dewitt's  Corner,  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  making  a  treaty  of  peace  with  them.  Sir,  if  the  greatest  potentate  of 
Europe  had  been  a  party,  the  preliminaries  could  not  have  been  more 
formal  or  solemn.  First,  are  produced  what  are  denominated  "  the 
Georgia  full  powers"  delegated  to  her  commissioners,  to  meet"  the  In- 
dian Congress"  to  be  held  at  Dewitt's  Corner — next  appear  "  the  South 
Carolina  full  powers,"  for  the  like  purpose — and  lastly,  the  Creek  and 
Cherokee  "  full  powers."  These  powers  are  opened  and  excitanged  at 


this  Congress,  and  a  treaty  is  agreed  upon  by  the  plenipotentiaries,  es- 
tablishing peace,  and  the  future  boundaries  between  then  respective  ter- 
ritories. 

In  many  of  the  treaties  made  by  the  United  States  with  the  Cherckees 
and  Creeks,  laige  sections  of  land  were  relinquished  to  us,  which  by  our 
compact  with  the  State  ot  Georgia,  we  received  fer  her  use.  She  never 
tjti»stioned,at  those  times,  our  right  to  treat  for  those  lands,  nor  the  In- 
dian's right  of  granting  in*  m  ;  but  gladly  availed  hersell  ot  such  rich  ac- 
cessions to  her  domains,  and  proceeded  very  promptly  to  distribute  them 
amongst  her  citizens.  JNo\v,  it  is  a  fundamental  maxim  in  ali  codes  of 
law  which  acknowledge  the  obligations  of  equity  and  good  conscience, 
that  if  a  party  is  silent  when  these  old  fashioned  rules  of  upright  dealing 
require  him  to  speak,  he  shall  forever  thereafter  hold  his  peace.  The 
application  of  this  sound  and  wliol'some  rule  will  instantly  strike  the 
moral  apprehensions  of  every  member  of  the  Senate. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  State  of  Georgia  fcr  a  clear  and  very  satisfactory 
exposition  of  the  nature  of  Indian  treaties,  and  the  obligations  that  arise 
from  them.  Jt  is  an  authority  for  positions,  which  1  have  had  the  honor 
to  maintain,  of  the  greater  weight,  as  it  proceeds  from  the  highest  func- 
tionary of  her  Government.  In  Ffbruary,  1825,  the  Creeks,  by  a  treaty 
made  with  the  United  States,  ceded  all  their  lands  to  us  within  the  geo- 
graphical limits  of  Georgia,  for  the  use  of  that  State.  By  an  article  in 
the  treaty,  it  was  provided  that  the  United  Slates  should  protect  the  In- 
dians against  the  encroachments,  hostilities  and  impositions  of  the  whites, 
&c.  &c.  until  the  removal  of  the  Indians  should  have  been  accomplished 
according  to  the  terms  _of  the  treaty.  The  Governor  of  Georgia,  on  the 
22d  day  of  March,  of  the  same  year,  issued  his  proclamation,  as  "  Go- 
vern«r  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Aimy  and  INavy  of  the  said 
State,  and  of  the  Militia  thereof,"  in  which,  afer  stating  the  conclusion 
of  the  treaty  alieady  mentioned,  and  the  article  in  it  for  the  protection 
of  the  Creeks,  the  Governor  proceeds  :  "  I  have,  therefore,  thought  pro- 
per to  issue  this,  my  proclamation,  warning  all  persons,  citizens  of  Geor- 
gia, or  others,  against  trespassing  or  intruding  upon  lands  occupied  by 
thf  Indians  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  either  tor  the  purpose  of  set- 
tlement cr  otherwise,  as  every  such  act  will  be  in  direct  violation  of  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty  aforesaid,  and  will  expose  the  aggressors  to  the 
roost  certain  and  summary  punishment  by  the  authorities  of  the  State, 
and  of  the  United  States.  All  good  citizens,  therefore,  pursuing  the  dic- 
tates of  good  faith,  will  unite  in  enforcing  the  obligations  of  the  treaty 
as  the  supreme  law,"  &c.  [See  Proclamation  in  Appendix.] 

The  Senate  perceive  that  this  Executive  injunction  founds  its  require- 
ments, explicitly,  upon  ihe  faith  and  authority  of  the  treaty,  as  the  su- 
preme law  ;  and  this  a  treaty  made  with  Indians.  Yes,  Sir,  a  treaty 
with  a  part  of  the  very  Indians  now  asserted  by  Georgia  to  be  below  the 
reach  of  treaties— poor  abjects!  with  whom  it  is  declared  to  be  ridiculous 
and  idle  to  speak  of  treating  ! 

Sir,  she  cannot  recall  her  proclamation.  Give  these  sacred  doctrines 
their  full  operation  here  ;  let  their  influence  prevail  in  the  eventful  issue 
now  opened  for  our  decision  ;  and  the  Indians,  who  are  involved  in  it, 
will  be  satisfied.  They  have  approached  us  with  no  other  plea  ;  they 
urge  no  oiber  or  higher  considerations.  They  point  us  to  the  faith  of 


21 

treaties,  and  implore  us  by  the  constitutional  obligation  of  these  national 
compacts,  to  laise  around  our  ancient  allies  the  effective  defences  which 
we  have  so  often  promised  to  maintain.  Carry  out  these  rules  of  public 
duty,  and  the  Cherokee  delegation,  who  have  been  waiting  at  your 
doors  with  anxious  interest,  will  return  to  their  home  relieved  from  the 
burden  that  now  sinks  their  spirits,  and  with  the  grateful  conviction  that 
the  successors  of  Washington  are  still  true  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  President:  What  could  have  wrought  this  entire  revolution  in 
opinions,  and  in  three  short  years  ?  Our  relations  with  the  Indians  have 
not  changed.  Condition  and  circumstance,  claim  and  obligation,  remain 
pr-cis'-ly  the  same.  And  yet,  now  we  hear  that  these  Indians  have 
been  f.>r  all  the  time,  since  Georgia  had  existence,  a  component  part  of 
her  population;  within  the  full  sc-'pe  of  her  jurisdiction  and  sovereignty, 
and  subject  t<»  th^  control  of  her  laws! 

The  Peopl^  of  this  country  will  never  acquiesce  in  such  violent  con- 
striKtious.  They  .will  read  for  themselves;  and  when  they  shall  learn 
the.  history  of  all  our  intercourse  with  these  nations;  when  they  shall 
pe  reive  the  guaranties  so  often  renewed  to  them,  and  under  what  so- 
lemn sanctions,  the  American  community  will  not  seek  the  aids  of  arti- 
ficial speculations  on  the  requisite  formalities  to  a  technical  treaty.  No, 
Sir.  I  repeat  it :  They  will  judge  for  themselves,  and  proclaim,  in  lan- 
gua_e  that  the  remotest  limit  of  this  Republic  will  understand — "call 
th^se  sacred  pledges  of  a  nation's  faiih  by  what  name  you  please — our 
word  has  been  gioen,  and  we  should  live  and  die  by  our  word.n 

If  the  State  of  Georgia  is  concluded,  aud  morally  bound  to  stay  her 
hand  from  invading  the  lands  or  the  government  of  the  Indians,  the 
Stales  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama  are  equally  and  more  strongly  oblig- 
ed. They  came  into  the  Union  after  most  of  the  treaties  had  been  made. 
The  former  in  1816;  and  the  latter  in  1819.  These  obligations  were 
liens  upon  the  confederacy,  and  they  must  take  the  benefits  with  the 
burdens  of  the  Union.  They  canaot  complain  of  concealment  or  sur- 
prise. These  conventions  were  all  public  and  notorious;  and  the  In- 
dians under  their  •daily  view,  in  actual  separate  possessiony*exercising 
the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  property. 

Moreover,  we  hav^  heard  much  of  constitutional  powers  and  disabili- 
ties in  this  debate.  Sir,  I  proceed  to  demonstrate  that  both  Mississippi 
and  Alabama  are,  by  a  fundamental  inhibition  in  the  constitution  of  their 
government,  prevented  from  extending  their  laws  orer  the  Indians. — 
When  Georgh,  in  1802,  granted  to  the  United  States  the  territory  that 
composes  the  greater  part  of  these  two  States,  she  made  it  an  express 
condition  of  the  cession,  that  the  States  to  be  formed  of  it  should  conform 
to  all  the  articles  <>f  "the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
n  >rthwest  of  the  Ohi  >,*'  excepting  one  single  article  prohibiting  involun- 
tary servitude.  When  these  States  applied  to  the  General  Government 
to  be  forni^d  into  Territories,  this  eventful  condition  of  the  Georgia  ces- 
sion was  remembered  by  all  parties.  Mississippi  and  Alabama  in  the 
most  deliberate  manner  agreed  to  the  condition,  and  assumed  the  articles 
of  th-  ordinance  as  an  integral  part  of  their  political  condition.  When 
they  afterwards  proposed  to  us  to  be  received  into  the  Federal  UrrK-n, 
acts  of  Congress  were  duly  passed  authorizing  them  respectively  to  form 
a  constitution  and  State  government  for  the  people  within  their  territo- 
ries, with  this  proviso— (t  That  the  same,  when  formed,  shall  be  repub- 


an  investigation  of  this  pretence.    It  will  be  found  as  void  of  support 
i0  fait,  as  the  other  assumptions  are  of  principle. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  Indians  cannot  flourish  in  the  neighborhood  of  a 
white  population — that  whole  tribes  have  disappeared  under  the  influ- 
ence of  this  propinquity.  As  an  abstract  proposition,  it  implies  reproach 
somewhere.  Our  virtues  certainly  have  not  such  deadly  and  depopulnt- 
ing  power.  It  must,  then,  be  our  vices  that  possess  these  destructive 
energies-— and  shall  we  commit  injustice,  and  put  in,  as  our  plea  fm  it) 
that  our  intercourse  with  the  Indians  has  been  so  demoralizing  that  we 
must  drive  them  from  it,  to  save  them?  True,  Sir,  many  tribes  have 
melted  away — they  have  sunk  lower  and  lower — and  what  people  could 
rise  from  a  condition  to  which  policy,  selfishness,  and  cupidity,  conspired 
to  depress  them  ? 

Sir,  had  we  devoted  the  same  care  to  elevate  their  moral  condition, 
that  we  have  to  degrade  them,  the  removal  of  the  Indians  would  not  now 
seek  for  an  apology  in  the  suggestions  of  humanity.  But  I  waive  this, 
and,  as  to  the  matter  of  fact,  how  stands  the  account  ?  Wherever  a  fair 
experiment  has  been  made,  the  Indians  have  readily  yielded  to  the  influ- 
ences of  moral  cultivation.  Yes,  Sir,  they  flourish  under  this  culture, 
and  rise  in  the  scale  of  being.  They  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
highly  susceptible  of  improvement,  and  the  ferocious  feelings  and  habits 
of  the  savage  are  soothed  and  reformed  by  the  mild  charities  of  religion. 
They  can  very  soon  be  taught  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  blessings 
of  civilization  and  regular  government.  And  I  have  the  opinions  of 
some  .of  our  most  enlightened  statesmen  to  sustain  me.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
nearly  thirty  years  ago,  congratulates  his  fellow  citizens  upon  the  hopeful 
indications  furnished  by  the  laudable  efforts  of  the  government  to  melior- 
ate the  condition  of  those  he  was  pleased  to  denominate  "  our  In- 
dian neighbors."  In  his  message  to  Congress  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1801,  he  states,  "  among  our  Indian  neighbors,  also,  a  spirit  of  peace 
and  friendship  generally  prevails ;  and  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that 
the  continued  efforts  to  introduce  among  them  the  implements  and  the 
practice  of  husbandry,  and  of  the  household  arts,  have  not  been  without 
success.  That  they  are  becoming  more  and  more  sensible  of  the  supe- 
riority of  this  dependence  for  clothing  and  subsistence  over  the  precari- 
ous resources  of  hunting  and  fishing.  And  already  are  we  able  to  an- 
nounce that,  instead  of  that  constant  diminution  of  numbers  produced 
by  their  wars  and  their  wants,  some  of  them  begin  to  experience  an  in- 
crease of  population."  Upon  the  authority  of  this  great  statesman,  I 
can  direct  our  Government  to  a  much  more  effective,  as  well  as  more 
just  and  honorable  remedy  for  the  evils  that  afflict  these  tribes,  than  their 
proposed  removal  into  the  wild  uncultivated  regions  of  the  western  for- 
ests. In  a  message  to  Congress  on  the  I7ih  October,  1803,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son remarks,  "  with  many  of  the  other  Indian  tribes,  improvements  in 
agriculture  and  household  manufacture  are  advancing,  and  with  all  our 
peace  and  friendship  are  established  on  grounds  much  firmer  than  hereto- 
fore." In  his  message  of  the  2d  December,  1806,  there  is  a  paragraph 
devoted  to  this  subject  deserving  of  our  most  respectful  consideration. 
The  friends  of  Indian  rights  could  not  desire  the  aid  of  better  sentiments 
than  Mr.  Jefferson  inculcated  in  that  part  of  the  message  where  he  says 
"  we  continue  to  receive  proofs  of  the  growing  attachment  of  our  Indian 
neighbors;  and  of  their  disposition,  to  place  all  their  interests  under  the 


patronage  of  the  United  States.  These  dispositions  are  iiispiied  by  t'kti; 
confidence  in  our  justice,  and  in  the  sincere  concern  we  feel  for  their 
welfare.  And  as  long  as  we  discharge  these  high  and  honorable  func- 
tions with  the  integrity  and  good  faith  which  alone  can  entitle  us  to  their 
continuance,  we  may  expect  to  reap  the  just  reward  in  their  peace  and 
friendship."  Again,  in  November,  1808,  he  informs  the  Congress  thai 
*•'  with  our  Indian  neighbors  the  public  peace  has  been  steadily  maintain- 
ed ;  and  generally,  from  a  conviction  that  we  consider  them  as  a  part  of 
ourselves,  and  cherish  with  sincerity  their  rights  and  imerests,  the  attach- 
ment of  the  Indian  tribes  is  gaining  strength  daily,  is  extending  from  the 
nearer  to  the  more  remote,  and  will  amply  requite  us  for  the  justice  and 
friendship  practised  towards  them.  Husbandry  and  household  manu- 
facture are  advancing  among  them — more  rapidly  with  the  Southern  than 
Northern  tr'rbes,  from  circumstances  of  soil  and  climate." 

Mr.  Madison,  in  his  message  of  November,  1809,  likewise  bears  his 
public  testimony  to  the  gradual  improvement  of  the  Indians.  "  With  our 
Indian  neighbors,"  he  remarks,  "  the  just  and  benevolent  s\-stem  con- 
tinued toward  them,  has  a^so  preserved  peace,  and  is  more  and  more  ad- 
vancing habits  favorable  to  their  civilization  and  happiness."  I  will 
detain  the  Senate  with  but  one  more  testimonial,  from  another  venera- 
ble Chief  Magistrate.  Mr.  Monroe,  as  lately  as  1824,  in  his  message, 
with  great  satisfaction  informed  the  Congress  that  the  Indians  were 
"  making  steady  advances  in  civilization  and  the  improvement  of  their 
condition."  "  Many  of  the  tribes,"  he  continues,  "  have  already  made 
great  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  This  desirable  result  has 
been  brought  about  by  the  humane  and  persevering  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  particularly  by  means  of  the  appropriation  for  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Indians.  There  have  been  established,  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  thirty  two  schools  containing  nine  hundred  and  sixteen  scho- 
lars, who  are  well  instructed  in  several  branches  of  literature,  and  like- 
wise in  agriculture  and  the  ordinary  arts  of  life." 

Now,  Sir,  when  we  consider  the  large  space  which  these  illustrious 
men  have  filled  in  our  councils,  and  the  perfect  confidence  that  is  due  to 
their  official  statements,  is  it  not  astonishing  to  hear  it  gravely  maintained 
that  the  Indians  are  retrograding  in  their  condition  and  character — that 
all  our  public  anxieties  and  cares  bestowed  upon  them  have  been  utterly 
fruitless,  and  that  for  very  pity's  sake  we  must  get  rid  of  them,  or  they 
will  perish  on  our  hands?  Sir,  I  believe  that  the  confidence  of  the  Sen- 
ate has  been  abused  by  some  of  the  letter  writers  who  give  us  such  sad 
accounts  of  Indian  wretchedness.  I  rejoice  that  we  may  safely  repose 
upon  the  statements  contained  in  the  letters  of  Messis.  J.  L.  Allen,  R. 
M.  Livingston,  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  A.  Worces- 
ter. [See  their  letters  in  the  Appendix.]  The  character  of  these  wit- 
nesses is  without  repioach,and  their  satisfactory  certificates  of  the  im- 
provement of  the  tribes  continue  and  confirm  the  history  furnished  to  u« 
in  the  several  messages  from  which  I  have  just  read  extracts. 

It  is  further  maintained  "  that  one  of  the  greatest  evils  to  which  tho 
Indians  are  exposed,  is  that  incessant  pressure  of  population,  that  forces 
them  from  seat  to  seat,  without  allowing  time  for  moral  and  intellectual 
improvement."  Sir,  this  is  the  very  reason — the  deep,  cogent  reason, 
which  I  present  to  the  Senate,  now  to  taise  the  barrier  against  the  prr\«- 
>urc  of  population,  and  with  all  the  authority  of  this  nation,  command. 
4 


an  investigation  of  this  pretence.    It  will  be  found  as  void  of  support 
in  fart,  as  the  other  assumptions  are  of  principle. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  Indians  cannot  flourish  in  the  neighborhood  of  a 
white  population — that  whole  tribes  have  disappeared  under  the  influ- 
ence of  this  propinquity.  As  an  abstract  proposition,  it  implies  reproach 
somewhere.  Our  virtues  certainly  have  not  such  deadly  and  depopulat- 
ing power.  It  must,  then,  be  our  vices  that  possess  these  destructive 
energies-^and  shall  we  commit  injustice,  and  put  in,  as  our  plea  fm  it, 
that  our  intercourse  with  the  Indians  has  been  so  demoralizing  that  we 
must  drive  them  from  it,  to  save  them?  True,  Sir,  many  tribes  have 
melted  away — they  have  sunk  lower  and  lower — and  what  people  could 
rise  from  a  condition  to  which  policy,  selfishness,  and  cupidity,  conspired 
to  depress  them  ? 

Sir,  had  we  devoted  the  same  care  to  elevate  their  moral  condition, 
that  we  have  to  degrade  them,  the  removal  of  the  Indians  would  not  now 
seek  for  an  apology  in  the  suggestions  of  humanity.  But  I  waive  this, 
and,  as  to  the  matter  of  fact,  how  stands  the  account  ?  Wherever  a  fair 
experiment  has  been  made,  the  Indians  have  readily  yielded  to  the  influ- 
ences of  moral  cultivation.  Yes,  Sir,  they  flourish  under  this  culture, 
and  rise  in  the  scale  of  being.  They  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
highly  susceptible  of  improvement,  and  the  ferocious  feelings  and  habits 
of  the  savage  are  soothed  and  reformed  by  the  mild  charities  of  religion. 
They  can  very  soon  be  taught  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  blessings 
of  civilization  and  regular  government.  And  I  have  the  opinions  of 
some  .of  our  most  enlightened  statesmen  to  sustain  me.  Mr.  Jefferson, 
nearly  thirty  years  ago,  congratulates  his  fellow  citizens  upon  the  hopeful 
indications  furnished  by  the  laudable  efforts  of  the  government  to  melior- 
ate the  condition  of  those  he  was  pleased  to  denominate  "  our  In- 
dian neighbors."  In  his  message  to  Congress  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1801,  he  states,  "  among  our  Indian  neighbors,  also,  a  spirit  of  peace 
and  friendship  generally  prevails ;  and  I  ana  happy  to  inform  you  that 
the  continued  efforts  to  introduce  among  them  the  implements  and  the 
practice  of  husbandry,  and  of  the  household  arts,  have  not  been  without 
success.  That  they  are  becoming  more  and  more  sensible  of  the  supe- 
riority of  this  dependence  for  clothing  and  subsistence  over  the  precari- 
ous resources  of  hunting  and  fishing.  And  already  are  we  able  to  an- 
nounce that,  instead  of  that  constant  diminution  of  numbers  produced 
by  their  wars  and  their  wants,  some  of  them  begin  to  experience  an  in- 
crease of  population."  Upon  the  authority  of  this  great  statesman,  I 
can  direct  our  Government  to  a  much  more  effective,  as  well  as  more 
just  and  honorable  remedy  for  the  evils  that  afflict  these  tribes,  than  their 
proposed  removal  into  the  wild  uncultivated  regions  of  the  western  for- 
ests. In  a  message  to  Congress  on  the  17th  October,  1803,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son remarks,  "with  many  of  the  other  Indian  tribes,  improvements  in 
agriculture  and  household  manufacture  are  advancing,  and  with  all  our 
peace  and  friendship  are  established  on  grounds  much  firmer  than  hereto- 
fore." In  his  message  of  the  2d  December,  1806,  there  is  a  paragraph 
devoted  to  this  subject  deserving  of  our  most  respectful  consideration. 
The  friends  of  Indian  rights  could  not  desire  the  aid  of  better  sentiments 
than  Mr.  Jefferson  inculcated  in  that  part  of  the  message  where  he  sa^s 
"  we  continue  to  receive  proofs  of  the  growing  attachment  of  our  Indian 
neighbors;  and  of  their  disposition,  to  place  all  their  interests  under  the 


patronage  of  tlie  United  States.  These  dispositions  are  iuspiied  by  thti: 
confidence  in  our  justice,  and  in  the  sincere  concern  we  feel  for  their 
welfare.  And  as  long  as  we  discharge  these  high  and  honorable  func- 
tions with  the  integrity  and  good  failh  which  alone  can  entitle  us  to  their 
continuance,  we  may  expect  to  reap  the  just  reward  in  their  peace  and 
friendship."  Again,  in  November,  1808,  he  informs  the  Congress  that 
*•'  with  our  Indian  neighbors  the  public  peace  has  been  steadily  maintain- 
ed ;  and  generally,  from  a  conviction  that  we  consider  them  a?  a  part  of 
ourselves,  and  cherish  with  sincerity  their  rights  and  interests,  the  attach- 
ment of  the  Indian  tribes  is  gaining  strength  daily,  is  extending  from  the 
nearer  to  the  more  remote,  and  will  amply  requite  us  for  the  justice  and 
friendship  practised  towards  them.  Husbandry  and  household  manu- 
facture are  advancing  among  them — more  rapidly  with  the  Southern  than 
Northern  tribes,  from  circumstances  of  soil  and  climate." 

Mr.  Madison,  in  his  message  of  November,  1809,  likewise  bears  his 
public  testimony  to  the  gradual  improvement  of  the  Indians.  "  With  our 
Indian  neighbors,"  he  remarks,  "  the  just  and  benevolent  system  con- 
tinued toward  them,  has  ajiso  preserved  peace,  and  is  more  and  more  ad- 
vancing habits  favorable  to  their  civilization  and  happiness."  I  will 
detain  the  Senate  with  but  one  more  testimonial,  from  another  venera- 
ble Chief  Magistrate.  Mr.  Monroe,  as  lately  as  1824,  in  his  message, 
with  great  satisfaction  informed  the  Congress  that  the  Indians  were 
"  making  steady  advances  in  civilization  and  the  improvement  of  their 
condition."  "  Many  of  the  tribes,"  he  continues,  "  have  already  made 
great  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  This  desirable  result  has 
been  brought  about  by  the  humane  and  persevering  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  particularly  by  means  of  the  appropriation  for  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Indians.  There  have  been  established,  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  thirty  two  schools  containing  nine  hundred  and  sixteen  scho- 
lars, who  are  well  instructed  in  several  branches  of  literature,  and  like- 
wise in  agriculture  and  the  ordinary  arts  of  life." 

Now,  Sir,  when  we  consider  the  large  space  which  these  illustrious 
men  have  filled  in  our  councils,  and  the  perfect  confidence  that  is  due  to 
their  official  statements,  is  it  not  astonishing  to  hear  it  gravely  maintained 
that  the  Indians  are  retrograding  in  their  condition  and  character — that 
all  our  public  anxieties  and  cares  bestowed  upon  them  have  been  utterly 
fruitless,  and  that  for  very  pity's  sake  we  must  get  rid  of  them,  or  they 
will  perish  on  our  hands?  Sir,  I  believe  that  the  confidence  of  the  Sen- 
ate has  been  abused  by  some  of  the  letter  writers  who  give  us  such  sad 
accounts  of  Indian  wretchedness.  I  rejoice  that  we  may  safely  repose 
upon  the  statements  contained  in  the  letters  of  Messrs.  J.  L.  Allen,  R. 
M.  Livingston,  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  A.  VY7orces- 
ter.  [See  their  letters  in  the  Appendix.]  The  character  of  these  wit- 
nesses is  without  reptoach,  and  their  satisfactory  certificates  of  the  im- 
provement of  the  tribes  continue  and  confirm  the  history  furnished  to  us 
in  the  several  messages  from  which  I  have  just  read  extracts. 

it  is  further  maintained  "  that  one  of  the  greatest  evils  to  which  tho 
Indians  are  exposed,  is  that  incessant  pressure  of  population,  that  forces 
them  from  seat  to  seat,  without  allowing  time  for  moral  and  intellectual 
improvement."  Sir,  this  is  the  very  reason — the  deep,  cogent  reason, 
which  I  present  to  the  Senate,  now  to  laise  the  barrier  against  the  pres- 
sure of  population,  and  with  all  the  authority  of  this  nation,  command, 
4 


jiie  urging  tide  "thus  far  and  no  farther."  Let  us  save  them  now,  of 
we  never  shall.  For  is  it  not  clear  as  the  sunbeam,  Sir,  that  a  removal 
will  aggravate  their  woes  ?  If  the  tide  is  nearly  irresistible  at  this  time; 
when  a  few  more  years  shall  fill  the  regions  beyond  the  Arkansas  with 
many  more  millions  of  enterprising  white  men,  will  not  an  increased  im- 
pulse be  given,  that  shall  sweep  the  red  men  away  into  the  barren  prai- 
ries, ur  the  Pacific  of  the  West  ?  Such,  I  fear,  will  be  their  doom. 

If  these  constant  removals  are  so  afflictive,  and  allow  no  time  for 
moral  improvement — if  this  be  the  cause  why  the  attempts  at  Indian  re- 
formation are  alleged  to  have  been  so  unavailing — do  not  the  dictates  of 
experience  then  plead  most  powerfully  with  us,  to  drive  them  no  further 
; — to  grant  them  an  abiding  place,  when  these  moral  causes  may  have  a 
fair  and  Uninterrupted  operation  in  moulding  and  refining  the  Indian 
character?  And,  Sir,  weigh  a  moment  the  considerations  that  address 
us  on  behalf  of  the  Cherokees,  especially.  Prompted  and  encouraged  by 
bur  counsels,  they  huve  in  good  earnest  resolved  to  become  men,  ration- 
al, educated,  Christian  men  ;  and  they  have  succeeded  beyond  our  most 
sanguine  hnprs.  They  have  established  a  regular  constitution  of  civil 
government,  republican  in  us  principles.  Wise  and  beneficent  laws  are 
enacted.  The  pe  plf>  ;ickn!>w'edee  their  authority,  and  feel  their  obliga- 
tion. A  print  ng  pre-s,  conducted  by  one  of  the  nation,  circulates  a 
weekly  newspaper,  printed  partly  in  English,  and  partly  in  the  Chero- 
kee language.  Schools  flourish  in  many  of  their  settlements.  Christian 
temples,  to  the  God  of  the  Bible,  are  frequented  by  respectful,  devout, 
and  many  sincere  worshippers.  God,  as  we  believe,  has  many  people 
among  them,  wh<>m  he  regards  as  the  "  apple  of  his  eye."  They  have 
become  better  neighbors  to  Georgia.  She  made  ho  complaints  during 
the  lapse  of  fifty  years,  when  the  tribes  were  a  horde  of  ruthless,  licen- 
tious and  drunken  savages;  when  no  law  controlled  them,  when  the 
only  judge  was  their  will,  and  their  avenger  the  tomahawk. 

Then  Georgia  could  make  treaties  with  therti,  and  acknowledge 
them  as  nations  ;  and  in  conventions  trace  boundary  lines,  and  respect 
the  land-marks  of  her  neighbor :  and  now,  when  they  begin  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  all  the  paternal  instructions,  so  repeatedly  and  earnestly 
delivered  to  them  by  the  Presidents — when  the  Cherokee  has  learned  to 
respect  the  rights  of  (he  white  man,  and  sacredly  to  regard  the  obliga- 
tions of  tiuth  and  conscience — is  this  the  time,  Sir,  to  break  up  this 
peaceful  community,  to  put  out  their  council  fires,  to  annul  their  laws 
and  customs,  to  crush  the  rising  hopes  of  their  youth,  and  to  drive  the 
desponding  and  discouraged  Indian  to  despair  ?  Let  it  be  called  a  sick- 
ly humanity — every  freeman  in  the  land,  that  has  one  spark  of  the  spirit 
of  his  fathers,  will  feel  and  denounce  it  to  be  an  unparalleled  stretch  of 
cruel  injustice.  And  if  the  deed  be  done,  Sir,  how  it  is  regarded  in 
Heaven  will,  sooner  or  later,  be  known  on  Earth  ;  for  this  is  the  judg- 
ment place  of  public  sins.  And  all  these  ties  are  to  be  broken  asunder, 
for  a  State  that  was  silent  and  acquiesced  in  the  relations  of  the  Indians 
to  our  present  government — that  pretended  to  no  right  of  direct  inter- 
ference whilst  these  tribes  were  really  dangerous  ;  when  their  ferocious 
incursions  justly  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  the  fireside,  and  waked  the 
"  sleep  of  the  cradle  ;"  for  a  State  that  seeks  it  now  against  an  unof- 
fending neighbor,  which  implores  her  by  all  that  is  dear  in  the  graves 
rf  her  fathers;  in  the  traditions  of  by  gone  ages  j  that  beseeches  her  by 


ihe  ties  of  nature,  of  home,  and  of  country,  to  let  her  live  unmolested; 
and  die  near  the  dust  of  her  kindred  ! 

Sir,  our  fears  have  been  addressed  in  behalf  of  those  States  whose  Ie- 
gislation  we  resist :  and  it  is  enquired  with  solicitude,  would  you  urge  us 
to  arms  with  Georgia  ?  No,  Sir.  This  tremendous  alternative  will  not 
be  necessary.  Let  the  General  Government  come  out,  as  it  should; 
with  decided  and  temperate  firmness,  and  officially  announce  to  Geor- 
gia, and  the  other  States,  that  if  the  Indian  tribes  choose  to  remain,  they 
will  be  protected  against  all  interference  and  encroachment ;  and  such 
is  my  confidence  in  the  sense  of  justice,  in  the  respect  for  law,  prevailing 
in  the  great  body  of  this  portion  of  our  fellow  citizens,  that  I  believe 
they  would  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  nation.  I  can  expect  no  other 
issue.  But  if  the  General  Government  be  urged  to  the  crisis,  never  to 
be  anticipated,  of  appealing  to  the  last  resort  of  her  powers ;  and  when 
reason,  argument,  and  persuasion  fail,  to  raise  her  strong  arm  to  repress 
the  violations  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  I  ask,  is  it  not  in  her  bond, 
Sir?  Is  her  guaranty  a  rope  of  sand  ?  This  effective  weapon  has  of- 
ten been  employed  to  chastise  the  poor  Indies,  sometimes  with  dreadful 
vengeance  I  fear,  and  shall  not  their  protection  avail  to  draw  it  from  the 
scabbard  ?  Permit  me  to  refer  the  Senate  to  the  views  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
directly  connected  with  this  delicate,  yet  sacred  duty  of  prelection.  In 
1791,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  StJte,  there  were  s«~me  symptoms  of 
collision  on  the  Indian  subject.  This  induced  the  letter  from  him  to 
General  Knox,  then  our  Secretary  of  War,  a  part  of  which  I  will  read  : 
"  I  am  of  opinion,  that  Government  should  firmly  maintain  this  ground; 
that  the  Indians  h  ive  a  right  to  the  occupation  of  their  lands,  independ- 
ent of  the  States  within  whose  chartered  limits  they  happen  to  be  ;  that 
until  they  cedeth^m  by  treaty,  or  other  transaction  equivalent  to  a  trea- 
ty, no  act  of  a  State  can  give  a  right  to  such  lands;  that  neither  under 
the  present  constitution,  nor  the  ancient  confederation,  had  any  State  or 
persons  a  right  to  treat  with  the  Indians,  without  the  consent  of  the  Gene- 
ral Government;  that  that  consent  has  never  been  given  by  any  treaty 
for  the  cession  of  the  lands  in  question  ;  that  the  Government  is  deter- 
mined to  exert  all  its  energy  for  the  patronage  and  protection  of  the 
rights  of  the  Indians,  and  the  preservation  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  them  ;  and  that  if  any  settlements  are  made  on  lands  not  ceded 
by  them,  without  the  previous  consent  of  the  United  Stales,  the  Govern- 
ment will  think  itself  bound,  not  only  to  declare  to  the  Indians  that 
such  settlements  are  without  the  authority  or  protection  of  the  United 
States,  but  to  remove  them  also  by  public  force." 

Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  have  been  disturbed  by  no  morbid  sensibilities. 
He  speaks  out  as  became  a  determined  statesman.  We  can  trace  in 
this  document  the  same  spirit  which  shed  its  influence  on  a  more  event- 
ful paper — the  declaration  of  our  rights,  and  of  our  purpose  to  maintain 
aed  defend  them.  He  looked  right  onward,  in  the  broad  path  of  public 
duty  ;  and  if,  in  his  way,  he  met  the  terrors  of  State  collision  and  con- 
flict, he  was  in  no  degree  intimidated.  The  faith  of  treaties  was  his 
guide  ;  and  he  would  not  flinch  in  his  purposes,  nor  surrender  the  Indians 
to  State  encroachments.  Let  such  decided  policy  go  forth  in  the  majes- 
ty of  our  laws  now,  and,  Sir,  Georgia  will  yield.  She  will  never  en- 
counter the  responsibilities  or  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war.  But  if  she 
should,  no  stains  of  blood  will  be  on  our  skirts — on  herself  the  guilt  wijl 
abide  forever. 


28 

Mr.  President,  if  we  abandon  these  aboriginal  proprietors  of  our  sou 
— these  early  allies  and  adopted  children  of  our  forefathers,  how  shall 
we  justify  it  to  our  country  ?  to  all  the  glory  of  the  past,  and  the  pro- 
mise of  the  future  ?  Her  good  name  is  worth  all  else  besides  that  contri- 
butes to  her  greatness.  And,  as  I  regard  this  crisis  in  her  history, 
the  time  has  come  when  this  unbought  treasure  shall  be  plucked  from 
dishonor,  or  abandoned  to  reproach. 

How  shall  we  justify  this  trespass  to  ourselves?  Sir,  we  may  deride 
it,  and  laugh  it  to  scorn  now  ;  but  the  occasion  will  meet  every  man, 
when  he  must  look  inward,  and  make  honest  inquisition  there.  Let  us 
beware  how,  by  oppressive  encroachments  upon  the  sacred  privileges  of 
our  Indian  neighbors,  we  minister  to  the  agonies  of  future  remorse. 

I  have,  in  my  humble  measure,  attempted  to  discharge  a  public  and 
most  solemn  duty  towards  an  interesting  portion  of  my  fellow  men. 
Should  it  prove  to  have  been  as  fruitless  as  I  know  it  to  be  below  the 
weight  of  their  claims,  yet  even  then,  Sir,  it  will  have  its  consolations. 
Defeat  in  such  a  cause  is  far  above  the  triumphs  of  unrighteous  power — 
and  in  the  language  of  an  eloquent  writer — "  I  had  rather  receive  the 
blessing  of  one  poor  Cherokee,  as  he  casts  his  last  look  back  upon  his 
country,  for  having,  though  in  vain,  attempted  to  prevent  his  banish- 
ment, than  to  sleep  beneath  the  marble  of  all  the  Caesars." 


APPENDIX 


A  PROCLAMATION. 

G«ORGIA. — By  His  Excellency  George  M.  Troup,  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  this  State,  and  of  the  Mi- 
litia thereof. 

Whereas,  by  a  treaty  concluded  with  the  Creeks  at  the  Indian  Springs, 
on  the  12th  day  of  February  last,  their  claims  to  the  whole  territory 
within  the  limits  of  Georgia  were  ceded  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
ratification  of  the  same,  by  the  President  and  Senate,  having  been  made 
known  to  me  ;  by  which  act  the  territory  aforesaid,  according  to  the  sti- 
pulations of  the  treaty  and  of  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession  in  the 
year  1802,  will,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  September,  1826,  pass  into 
actual  possession  of  the  State  of  Georgia  : 

And  whereas,  it  is  provided  in  said  treaty,  that  the  United  States  shall 
protect  the  Indians  against  the  encroachments,  hostilities,  and  imposi- 
tions of  the  whites,  so  that  they  suffer  no  interruption,  molestation  or 
injury,  in  their  persons,  goods,  effects,  their  dwellings  or  the  lands  they 
occupy,  until  their  removal  shall  have  been  accomplished,  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  treaty. 

I  have,  therefore,  thought  proper  to  issue  this  my  Proclamation,  warn 
ing  all  persons,  citizens  of  Georgia,  or  others,  against  trespassing  or  in- 
truding upon  the  lands  occupied  by  the  Indians  within  the  limits  of  this 
State,  either  for  the  purpose  of  settlement  or  otherwise,  as  every  such 
act  will  be  in  direct  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  aforesaid, 
and  will  expose  the  aggressors  to  the  most  certain  and  summary  punish- 
ment by  the  authorities  of  the  State  and  of  the  United  States. 

All  good  citizens,  therefore,  pursuing  the  dictates  of  good  faith,  will 
unite  in  enforcing  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  as  the  supreme  law,  aid- 
ing and  assisting  the  magistracy  in  repressing  and  punishing  any  disorder 
or  violence  which  may  infringe  its  provisions;  and  all  officers,  civil  and 
military,  are  commanded  to  be  vigilant  in  preventing  offences  under  it, 
and  in  detecting  and  punishing  offender?. 

Given  under  my  hand,  and  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  at  the  State 
House,  in  Miliedgeville,  this  twenty-first  day  of  March,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  of  the  forty-ninth  year 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

G.  M.  TROUP. 

By  the  Governor : 

E.  HAMILTON, 

of 


1830. 

]L,aw  of  Georgia,  taken  from  the"  Georgia  Journal"  printed  at  Mil- 
ledgaville,  of  Saturday,  January  C23d,  1830. 

An  act  to  add  the  Territory  lying  within  the  chartered  limits  of  Georgia, 
and  now  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  to  the  counties 
of  Carroll,  DeKalb,  Gwinnett,  Hall  and   Habersham,  and  to  extend 
the  laws  of  this  State  over  the  same,  and  to  annul  all  laws  and  ordin- 
ances made  by  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indians,  and  to  provide  for  the 
compensation  of  officers  serving  legal   process  in  said  Territory,  and 
to  regulate  the  testimony  of  Indians, and  to  repeal  the  ninth  section  of 
the  act  of  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty  eight  upon  this  subject. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State 
of  Georgia  in  General  asspmbly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  same,  That,  from  and  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  all  that 
part  of  the  unlocat^d  territory  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  and  which 
lies  between  the  Alabama  line  and  the  old  path  leading  from  the  Buzzard 
Roost  on  the  Chattahoochie  to  Sally  Hughes'  on  the  Hightower  River, 
thence  to  Thomas  Petet's,  on   the  old  Federal  road,  thence  with  said 
road  to  the  Alabama  line,  be,  and  the  sarre  is  hereby,  added  to,  and 
shall  become  a  part  of,  the  county  of  Carroll. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  said  territory 
lying  and  being  North  of  (he  last  mentioned  line,  and  South  of  the  road 
running  from  Charles  Gates'  ferry  on  the  Chattahochie  river  to  Dick 
Roe's,  to  where  it  intersects  with  ihe  path  aforesaid,  be,  and  the  s-ime  is 
hereby  added  to,  and  shall  become  a  part  of,  the  county  of  DtKalb. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  said  territory 
lying  north  of  the  last  mentioned  line,  and  south  of  a  line  commencing 
0t  the  mouth  of  Baldridge's  Creek;  thence  up  said  Creek  to  its  source  j 
from  thence  to  where  the  Federal  road  crosses  .the  Hightower ;  thence 
with  said  road  to  the  Tennessee  line,  be;  and  the  same  is  hereby  added 
to,  and  shall  become  a  part  of,  the  county  of  Gwiqnett. 

Sec.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  paid  territory 
lying  north  of  said  last  mentioned  line,  and  south  of  aline  to  commence 
on  the  Ghestatee  river  at  the  mouth  of  Yoholo  cretk ;  thence  up  said 
creek  to  the  ton  of  the  Blue  Ridge;  thence  to  the  head  waters  of  Notley 
river;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  boundary  line  of  Georgia,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  added  to,  and  shall  become  a  part  of,  the  county  of 
Hall. 

Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  said  territory 
lying  north  of  said  hst  mentioned  line,  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  added  to,  and  that  become  a  part  of,  the  county 
of  Habersham. 

Sec.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  the  laws,  both  civil  and  crim- 
inal,of  this  State,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  extended  over  said  portions 
of  territory,  respectively;  and  all  persons  whatever  residing  within  the 
same,  shall,  after  the  first  day  of  June  next,  be  subject  and  liable  to  the 
operation  of  said  laws,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  citizens  of  this  State 
or  the  citizens  of  said  counties,  respectively;  and  all  writs  and  processes 
whatever,  issued  by  the  courts,  or  officers  of  said  courts,  shall  extend 


31 

over,  and  operate  on,  the  portions  of  territory  hereby  added  to  ttje  same5 
respectively. 

Sec.  7-  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  after  the  first  day  of  June 
next,  all  laws,  ordinances,  orders  and  regulations,  of  any  kind  whatever, 
made,  passed  or  enacted,  by  the  Cherokee  Indians,  either  in  general 
council  or  in  any  other  way  whatever,  or  by  any  authority  whatever,  of 
said  tribe,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  declared  to  be  null  and  void,  and 
of  no  effect,  as  if  the  same  had  never  existed;  and  in  all  cases  of  indict- 
ment, or  civil  suits,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  defendant  to  justify  un- 
der any  of  said  laws,  ordinances,  orders  or  regulations;  nor  shall  the 
courts  of  this  State  permit  the  same  to  be  given  in  evidence  on  the  trial 
of  any  suit  whatever. 

Sec.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any 
person  or  body  of  persons,  by  arbitrary  power  or  by  virtue  of  any  pre- 
tended rule,  ordinance,  law  or  custom,  of  said  Cherokee  nation,  to  pre- 
vent, by  threats,  menaces,  or  other  means,  to  endeavor  to  prevent  any 
Indian  of  said  nation,  residing  within  the  chartered  limits  of  this  State, 
from  enrolling  as  an  emigrant,  or  actually  emigrating,  or  removing  from 
said  nation  ;  nor  shall  it  be  lawful  for  any  person  or  body  of  persons,  by 
arbitrary  power,  or  by  virtue  of  any  pretended  rule,  ordinance,  law  or 
custom,  of  said  nation,  to  punish  in  any  manner,  or  to  molest  either  the 
person  or  property,  or  to  abridge  the  rights  or  privileges  of  any  Indian 
for  enrolling  his  or  her  name  as  an  emigrant,  or  for  emigrating,  or  in- 
tending to  emigrate,  fr.m  said  nation. 

Sec.  9-  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  or  body  of  per- 
sons offending  against  the  provisions  of  the  foregoing  section,  shall  be 
guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  subject  to  indictment,  and,  on  conviction, 
shall  be  punished  by  confinement  in  the  common  gaol  of  any  county  of 
tliis  State,  or  by  confinement  at  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary,  for  a  term 
not  exceedingybwr  years,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Sec.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any 
person  or  body  of  persons,  by  arbitrary  power,  or  under  color  of  any 
pretended  rule,  ordinance,  law,  or  custom,  of  said  nation,  to  prevent,  or 
offer  to  prevent  or  deter  any  Indian,  head  man,  chief,  or  warrior,  of 
said  nation,  residing  within  the  chartered  limits  of  this  State,  from  selling 
or  ceding  to  the  United  States,  for  the  use  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  said  territory,  or  to  prevent,  or  offer  to  prevent, 
any  Indian,  head  man,  chief  or  warrior,  of  said  nation,  residing  as  afore- 
said, from  meeting  in  council,  or  treaty,  any  commissioner  or  commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  for  any  purpose  whatever. 

Sec.  11.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  or  body  of 
persons  offending  against  the  provisions  of  the  foregoing  section,  shall 
be  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  subject  to  indictment,  and,  on  convic- 
tion, shall  be  confined  at  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary,  for  not  less  than 
four,  nor  longer  than  six  years,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Sec.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  fur  any 
person  or  body  of  persons,  by  arbitrary  force,  or  under  color  of  any  pre- 
tended rules,  ordinances,  law  or  custom,  of  said  nation,  to  take  the  life 
of  any  Indian  residing  as  aforesaid,  for  enlisting  as  an  emigrant,  attempt- 
ing to  emigrate,  ceding,  or  attempting  to  cede,  as  aforesaid,  the  whole  or 
any  part  of  said  territory,  or  meeting,  or  attempting  lo  meet,  in  treaty  rr 
in  council,  as  aforesaid,  any  commissioner  or  commissioners  as  af  resaid  ; 


and  any  person  or  body  of  persons  offending  against  the  provisions  of 
this  section,  shall  be  guilty  of  murder,  subject  to  indictment,  and,  on 
conviction,  shall  suffer  death  by  hanging. 

Sec.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  should  any  of  the  foregoing 
offences  be  committed  under  color  of  any  pretended  rules,  ordinance^ 
custoai  or  law,  of  said  nation,  all  persons  acting  therein,  either  as  indi- 
viduals or  as  pretended  executive,  ministerial,  or  judicial  officers,  shall 
be  deemed  and  considered  as  principals,  and  subject  to  the  pains  and 
penalties  hereinbefore  prescribed. 

Sec.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  for  all  demands  which  may 
come  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  magistrate's  court,  suit  may  be  brought 
for  the  same  in  the  nearest  district  of  the  county  to  which  the  territory 
is  hereby  annexed  ;  and  all  officers  serving  any  legal  process  on  any 
person  living  on  any  portion  of  the  territory  herein  named,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  receive  the  sum  of  five  cents  for  every  mil?  he  may  ride  to  serve 
the  same,  after  crossing  the  present  limits  of  said  counties,  in  addition 
to  the  fees  already  allowed  by  law;  and  in  case  any  of  said  officers 
should  be  resisted  in  the  execution  of  any  legal  process  issued  by  any 
court  or  magistrate,  justice  of  the  Inferior  Court,  or  Judge  of  the  Supe- 
rior Court  of  any  of  said  counties,  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  call  out  a 
sufficient  number  of  the  militia  of  said  counties  to  aid  and  protect  him  in 
the  execution  of  his  duty. 

Sec.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  Indian  or  descendant  of 
any  Indian,  residing  within  the  Creek  or  Cherokee  nations  of  Indians, 
shall  be  deemed  a  competent  witness  in  any  court  of  this  State,  to  which 
a  white  person  may  be  a  party,  except  such  white  person  resides  within 
the  said  nation. 

WARREN  JOURDAN, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
THOMAS  STOCKS, 

President  of  the  Senate. 

Assented  to,  Dec.  19,  1829. 

GEORGE  R.  GILMER,  Governor, 


ALABAMA. 

AN  ACT  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  Alabama  over  the  Creek  Nation 

[1829.] 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  find  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  State  of  Alabama  in  General  Assembly  convened,  That 
vil!  the  territory  within  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Beginning  on 
the  bank  of  Coosa  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Kiamulga  creek,  and  running 
thence  with  Mclntosh's  road  to  the  Georgia  line;  thence,  with  the  said 
line,  northwardly  to  the  boundary  line  between  the  Creek  and  Cherokee 
nations  ;  thence,  vvestwardly,  with  the  said  last  named  boundary,  to  the 
mouth  of  Will's  creek,  on  Co«sa  ;  thence,  down  Coosa,  to  the  beginning, 
shall  be  added  to,  and  form  a  part  of  the  county  of  St.  Clair.  And  all 
'.he  territory  in  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Beginning  at  the  nmith 


33 

of  Kiapmlga,  and  running  thence  down  the  Coosa  river  to  Fort  Wil- 
liam*;  thence,  in  a  direct  line,  to  Miller's  bend,  on  the  Chattahoochie  ; 
Uience,  with  the  boundary  line  between  Alabama  and  Georgia,  to  where 
it  crosses  Mcln tosh's  road  ;  thence,  with  said  road,  to  the  beginning, 
shall  be  added  to,  and  form  a  part  of,  the  county  of  Shelby.  And  ail 
the  territory  within  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Beginning  at  Fort 
Williams,  and  running  down  Coosa  river  to  Wetumpka  Falls ;  thence, 
along  the  Indian  boundary  line,  to  the  road  leading  from  Pensacola  to 
Kendall  Lewis's  old  stand,  on  the  Federal  road  ;  thence,  along  said  road, 
to  the  Chattahoochie  river  ;  and  all  territory  north  of  the  aforesaid  line, 
and  not  attached  to  any  other  county,  shall  belong  to,  and  form  a  part 
of,  the  county  of  Montgomery  ;  and  all  Indian  territory  lying  south  of 
the  before  described  line,  shall  belong  to,  and  form  part  of,  the  county 
of  Pike. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Circuit 
Courts  of  the  above  named  counties  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  extend- 
ed over  their  respective  limits,  as  established  in  the  preceding  section. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Or- 
phans' courts  and  courts  of  revenue  of  the  above  named  Counties,  shall, 
after  the  first  day  of  March,  1830,  be  extended  over  so  much  of  their 
respective  limits  as  now  constitutes  a  part  of  the  Creek  nation. 

Sec.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
court  of  roads  and  revenue  in  the  above  counties,  on  the  first  Monday  of 
July  next,  or  shortly  thereafter,  to  appoint  a  suitable  person,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  to  make  an  accurate  census  of  the  Indian  population  residing 
in  his  county,  classing  them  into  separate  classes,  to  wit :  Those  under 
ten  years,  over  ten  and  under  twenty  one,  over  twenty  one  and  under 
forty  five,  and  those  over  forty  five,  the  males  and  females  into  separate 
columns,  noting  the  number  of  mixed  blood,  and  also  the  number  of 
slaves  owned  by  the  Indian  population,  and  make  return  thereof  to  the 
clerk  of  the  county  court  of  the  county,  respectively,  and  to  the  Secreta- 
ry of  State,  as  soon  ts  practicable. 

Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  person  so  appointed 
shall  be  entitled  to  three  dollars  a  day,  for  the  length  of  time  that  the 
court  of  revenue  shall  certify  as  necessary  to  perform  said  service  ;  and 
that  the  same  be  a  charge  upon  the  State  Treasury,  subject  to  be  reim- 
bursed by  such  new  counties  as  may  hereafter  be  established  out  of  the 
Creek  Indian  territory. 


MISSISSIPPI. 

[1830.] 

AN  ACT  to  extend  the  laws  of  (he  Stale  of  Mississippi  over  the  persons  and  pro- 
perty of  the  Indians  resident  within  its  limits. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  in  General  Assembly  convened,  That, 
from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  all  the  rights,  privileges,  immuni- 
ties and  franchises  held,  claimed  or  enjoyed,  by  those  persons  called  In- 
dians, and  their  descendants,  and  which  are  held  by  virtue  of  any  form 
5 


34 

of  policy,  usage,  or  custom,  existing  among  said  persons,  not  particular- 
ly recognised  and  established  by  the  common  law,  or  statutes  if  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  wholly  abolished  ax\d 
taken  away. 

Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  the  rights,  privileges,  immuni- 
ties and  franchises,  held  and  enjoyed  by  free  white  persons,  inhabitants 
of  the  said  State,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  given,  granted  and  extend- 
ed to  the  said  persons  called  Indians,  and  their  descendants,  in  as  full  and 
ample  a  manner  as  the  same  can  be  done  by  act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. 

Sec.  3.  Beit  further  enacted,  That  all  the  laws,  statutes  and  ordinan- 
ces, no\v  in  force  in  the  said  State  of  Mississippi,  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby,  declared  to  have  full  force,  power,  and  operation,  over  the  per- 
sons and  property  of  and  within  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the  said 
Indians. 

Sec.  4.  Be  it  farther  enacted.  That  all  marriages,  matrimonial 
connexions  or  associations,  entered  into  by  virtue  of  any  usage  or  custom 
of  the  said  Indians,  and  by  them  deemed  valid,  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby,  declared  to  be  as  binding  and  obligatory  as  if  the  same  had  been 
solemnized  according  to  the  laws  of  this  State. 

Sec.  5  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  or  persons  who  shall 
assume  on  him  or  themselves,  and  exercise  in  any  manner  whatever,  the 
office  of  Chief,  Mirrgo,  Head  man,  or  other  post  of  power  established  by 
the  tribal  statutes,  ordinances,  or  customs  of  Uie  said  Indians,  and  not 
particularly  recognised  by  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall,  on  conviction 
upon  indictment  or  presentment  before  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction, 
be  fined  in  any  sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  and  be  impri- 
soned any  time  not  exceeding  twelve  months,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court  before  whom  conviction  may  be  had. 

Sec.  6.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  boundaries  specified  in  an 
act  entitled  "An  act  to  extend  legal  process  into  that  part  of  the  State 
now  occupied  by  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  tribes  of  Indians,"  pas- 
sed February  4, 1829,  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  make  all  legal  process 
returnable  as  by  that  act  required. 


Extracts  of  a  Letter  from  Mr.  John  L.  Allen,  Sub-Agent  for  Chickasaws,  dated  7th 
February,  1830. 

"  In  conformity  with  yours  of  the  2Qth  January,  to  give  the  Depart- 
ment of  War  the  information  of  which  I  may  be  in  possession,  touching 
the  condition  of  the  Indians  within  the  Chickasaw  agency. 

They  (the  Chickasaws)  have  a  plenty  of  horses  of  a  superior  quality, 
or  at  least  well  adapted  to  the  use  of  Indians  ;  th°y  use  them  on  their 
farms  with  much  less  food  than  is  generally  given  those  animals  that  are 
raised  and  used  by  the  whites;  and,  when  travelling  through  their  coun- 
try, they  travel  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  per  day  ;  never  feed  them,  but 
let  them  subsist  entirely  upon  what  grass  or  cane  they  can  procure  for 
themselves  when  hobbled  out  at  night. 

They  have  large  herds  of  cattle,  swine,  sheep,  and  goats,  and  poultry 
of  every  description  that  are  in  use  generally,  in  that  section  of  country. 


35 

The  country  is  well  watered,  and  is  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of  cot- 
ion,  corn,  wheat,  oats,  peas,  potatoes,  beans,  &c. 

Cotton,  beef,  and  pork,  are  the  principal  articles  for  exportation. 
There  will  be  cotton  exported  from  the  nation  this  year,  probably  to  the 
amount  of  1,000  bales  ;  beef  and  pork  to  no  inconsiderable  amount. 

The  proceeds  from  the  sales  of  cotton,  horses",  beef,  cattle,  hogs,  &c. 
after  retaining  a  sufficiency  for  their  home  consumption,  is  generally  ap- 
plied to  the  purchase  of  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life  ;  to  wit :  slaves, 
sugar  and  coffee,  as  well  as  dry  goods  of  various  descriptions,  which  are 
calculated  to  render  them  comfortable,  and  ornament  their  persons. 

The  time  has  come  when  they  no  longer  depend  on  the  rifle  for  sup- 
port, but  it  is  used  more  for  their  recreation  and  amusement,  than  for  the 
means  of  sustenance. 

Every  family  cultivates  the  earth  more  or  less,  as  his  thirst  for  gain,  or 
his  imaginary  or  real  wants  increase. 

Much  to  the  honor  of  the  Chickasaws,  for  the  last  eight  years  the 
practice  of  the  men,  requiring  the  women  to  perform  all  the  labor  in  the 
fields,  is  much  changed;  the  men  now  (with  a  few  exceptions)  cultivate 
the  earth  themselves,  while  the  female  part  of  the  family  is  engaged  in 
their  household  affairs.  They  spin,  weave,  make  their  own  clothing, 
milk  cows,  make  butter,  cheese,  &c.  They  keep  themselves  decent  and 
clean,  and,  in  many  instances,  particular  attention  is  paid  to  fashions 
that  are  in  use  by  the  whites. 

It  is  their  constant  practice  to  appear  in  their  best  apparel  at  their 
public  meetings  ;  also,  when  ihey  visit  the  country  villages  in  the  white 
settlements. 

Many  of  the  Chickasaws  profess  Christianity.  I  attended  a  camp 
meeting  in  November  last,  at  the  missionaries  ;  divine  worship  was  per- 
formed alternately  by  white  and  red  men,  in  the  English  and  Indian  lan- 
guages ;  and,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  the  sacrament  taken  by  the  In- 
dians. Every  thing  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  good  order  and  de- 
corum. 

As  a  nation,  the  men  are  brave  and  honest.  The  women,  (the  half 
breeds  in  particular,)  are  beautiful  and  virtuous  ;  and,  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  there  has  been  greater  advancements  in  civilization,  in  the  last  eight 
years,  than  there  was  in  twenty  previous. 

I  think  the  present  state  of  education  does  not  meet  the  wishes  or  ex- 
pectations of  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  nation. 

Education  is  confined  generally  to  the  half  breeds  and  youths  general- 
ly of  the  first  promise.  There  are,  at  this  time,  several  white  men  that 
have  identified  themselves  with  the  Indians,  by  marriage,  and  several 
half  breeds  that  have  sufficient  education  to  enable  them  to  transact  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  business  for  the  nation. 

The  municipal  laws  of  the  Chickasaws  consist  in  written  laws  or  re 
solutions,  commanding  that  which  is  right,  and  prohibiting  that  which 
they  conceive  to  be  wrong.  Their  laws  are  few,  easily  understood,  and 
rigidly  enforced,  and  are  highly  calculated  to  promote  peace  and  good 
order  among  themselves. 

As  I  have  already  mentioned  the  state  of  agriculture,  I  have  only  now 
to  say  something  on  the  subject  of  the  mechanic  arts,  the  knowledge  of 
which  is  generally  confined  to  white  men  that  have  identified  themselves 
with  the  Indians,  particularly  of  th?  highest  grade  proposed  among  them  : 


36 

to  wit :  house  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  millwrights,  blacksmiths,  &c. 
All  the  arts  necessary  for  farming  use,  stocking  ploughs,  helving  axes, 
hoes,  making  slides,  truck  wheels,  draw  bars,  gates,  &c.  are  generally  con- 
fined to  the  common  Indians  and  slaves. 

The  Chickasaws  being  surrounded  by  the  white  inhabitants,  I  have  found 
it  a  difficult  matter  to  restrain  the  whites  from  violating  the  intercourse 
law,  by  driving  their  stock  over  the  line  upon  the  Indian  land,  making  set- 
tlements, trading  with  the  Indians  in  a  manner  that  is  prohibited  bylaw, 
as  well  as  stealing  their  negroes,  horses,  cattle,  &c. ;  but  I  am  proud  to 
have  it  in  my  power  to  say  that  those  white  persons  who  are  so  trouble- 
some to  the  Indians,  are  generally  men  of  the  lowest  grade  and  dregs  of 
society.  Such  men  as  are  always  unwilling  to  conform  to  the  laws  that 
govern  the  civilized  world. 

They  (the  principal  chiefs)  stated  that  if  the  laws  were  extended  over 
them,  they  had  no  belief  that  they  would  be  placed  upon  an  equal  foot- 
ing with  the  whites ;  and,  if  they  were  made  so  by  law,  all  the  officers 
of  the  law  would  be  composed  of  white  men  ;  and,  as  they  were  unskil- 
led in  law  suits,  and  the  whites  would  be  partial  to  each  other,  they  had 
no  belief  that  they  would  be  able  to  withstand  the  encroachments  of  the 
whites  upon  them  ;  and,  if  they  did  attempt  it,  that  in  a  few  years  they 
would  not  have  a  vestige  of  property  left,  consequently  they  would  ex- 
change their  country  for  any  they  could  get,  rather  than,  as  they  con- 
ceive, lose  their  native  freedom." 


Extract  of  the  Report  of  R.  M.  Livingston,  Commissioner,  of  the  28th 
December,  1828,  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

(C  I  proceed  to  conclude  this  report  by  submitting  a  few  observations 
as  to  *  their  (the  New  York  Indians)  condition  as  a  people,  and  whether 
advancing  or  deteriorating.'  Deprived  of  the  advantage  of  a  previ- 
ous acquaintance  with  the  tribe,  or  the  state  of  their  reservations,  I  am 
not  enabled,  from  personal  observation  alone,  to  compare  their  condition, 
at  this  time,  with  any  former  period  of  their  history.  Information  de- 
rived from  sources  entitled  to  credit,  enable  me  to  say  that  their  popula- 
tion has  not  materially  changed  in  the  laft  fifteen  years.  Their  females 
bear  as  many  children  as  ours,  but  lose  more  of  them  in  infancy  ;  sel- 
dom* rearing  to  maturity  more  than  two  or  three  to  a  family.  This  ex- 
cessive mortality,  in  comparison  with  human  life  in  the  purely  savage  or 
civilized  state,  is  attributable  to  the  middle  station  which  those  natives 
occupy  on  the  scale  of  civilization ;  to  their  having  lost  the  hardihood 
and  animation  of  the  hunter  state  without  having  attained  the  ability  to 
provide  the  comforts  essential  to  health  in  their  present  more  quiescent 
and  supine  condition.  An  uninterrupted  supply  of  food,  raiment,  and 
bedding,  medical  aid,  and  indispensable  comforts  for  mother  and  child, 
are,  in  too  many  instances,  wanting.  Their  dwellings  are  substantial, 
but  the  interior  (with  some  exceptions)  present  the  appearances  of  pover- 
ty and  uncleanliness.  .  Their  advances  in  husbandry  exceeded  my  ex- 
pectations ;  but  they  are  illy  supplied  with  indispensable  farming  uten- 
sils, and  are  deficient  in  both  theory  and  practice  ;  their  lands  exhibiting 
that  degree  of  cultivation  which  our  people  would  term  poor  and  sloven- 


37 

!y.     Their  cultivated  fields  do  not  produce   sufficient  to  sustain  their 
population;  the  deficiency  is  supplied  by  annuities,  fish,  and  horses  aad 
cattle  that  browse  the  commons.     A  spirit  of  agricultural  improvement, 
however,  is  pervading  the  nation,  and  may,  in  my  opinion,  be  so  excited 
and  directed  as  to  make  that  employment  yield   them  a  surplus  ;  estab- 
lishing at  the  same  time  wholesome  habits,  and  elevating  them  to  a  higher 
grade  of  being.     A  spirit  of  emulation  was  manifested  by  the  chiefs  ot 
the  Tonnawanta  reserve,  courting  a  compaiison  of  their  advances  in 
civilization  with  those  of  their  opponents  of  the  Buffalo  reserve.     I  visit- 
ed the  Tonnawanta  village,  and  (waiving  the  expression  of  preference 
as  to  buildings  and  agricultural  improvements  generally)  observed,  that 
Tonnawanta  far  exceeded  Buffalo  in  the  number,size,  and  condition  of  their 
cattle,  but  fell  as  far  behind   in  another  essential  branch  of  civilization, 
the  education  of  their  children  ;  the  school  at  Buffalo  containing  fr  JOT 
sixty  to  eighty  scholars,  that  at  Tonnawanta,  by  rrjason  that  Christianity  had 
been  not  taught  in  the  school,  had  dwindled  to  about  ten  or  fifteen  scho- 
lars, and  they  were  obliged  to  obtain  their  instruction  without  th?  bounds 
of  the  reserve.     As  well  at  Tonnawanta  as  at  Buffalo,  the  deistical  party 
expressed  a  desire  that  the  Quakers  might  instruct  them  and  their  chil- 
dren in  husbandry,  in  learning,  and  in  good  habits.     Of  the  moral  feel- 
ing of  the  nation,  their  genius  and   mental  powers,  (he  flexibility  and 
comprehension  of  their  language,  and  of  their  diversified  style  in  orato- 
ry, some  estimate  may  be  formed  by  their  reported  speeches  and  narra- 
tions translated  by  the  assistance  of  several  interpreters.     I  have  scarce- 
ly firmness  to  suppress  the  expression  of  feelings  excited  by  an  exami- 
nation of  the  school  at  Buffalo,  and  by  witnessing,  in  the  united  religious 
exercise  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  all  ages  and   sexes,  a  germ  of  hope 
rising  among  the  trodden  down  children  of  the  forest.     I  leave  the  sub- 
ject to   be  conceived  by  the  hearts,  and  portrayed  by  the   pens  of  the 
worthy  patrons   of  the  establishment.     Of  the  school,  I   would  merely 
observe,  that  1  know  of  none  in  which  children  of  equal  age  and  oppor- 
tunity possess  greater  aptitude  to  learning,  or  exhibit  higher  attainments  ; 
and  if  equal  care  shall  be  bestowed  in  translating  for  the  adult,  and   in 
forwarding  by  judicious  means  every  branch  of  civilization  as  essential 
to  guard  against  a  relapse,  the  succeeding  generation  will,  in  my  opinion, 
appear  as  a  new  race  of  beings." 


From  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury  to  Thomas  L.  McKenney. 

MAVHEW,  8th  February,  1830. 
THOMAS  L.  MCKENNEY,  ESQ. 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs  : 

Sir:  I  take  the  liberty  of  transmitting  to  the  War  Department  a  few 
remarks  and  statements  designed  to  show  the  progress  which  has  beeo 
made  by  the  Choctaws  towards  a  state  of  civilization. 

Such  a  statement  will,  1  hope,  be  acceptable  to  the  Government,  and 
it  is  certainly  due  to  the  Choctaws,  who  have  made  such  commendable 
exertions  for  their  own  improvement.  In  turning  their  attention  to  the 
arts  of  civilized  life,  to  the  education  of  their  children,  and  to  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  GospeJ,they  feel  the  satisfaction  of  having  followed  the  ad- 
vice of  their  great  Father,  the  President,  and  of  the  Secretary  of  War 


as 

•:  ;;e»  repeated  both  iu  written  communications  and  by  those  who  have 
spoken  HI  their  names. 

I  am  aware  that  very  different  views  are  entertained  of  the  improve- 
ments reported  to  have  been  made  by  some  of  the  Indian  tribes.  Those 
wbx>  are  not  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Indians,  and  who  form  their 
estimate  by  comparing  them  with  the  citizens  of  our  own  highly  favored 
country,,  will  regard  them  as  still  in  a  very  degraded  and  wretched  con- 
dition. 

Those  who  are  better  acquainted  with  them,  and  who  are  able  to  com- 
pare their  present  state  with  what  it  formerly  was,  must  admit  that  a 
great  advance  has  been  made.  Comparing  the  present  condition  of  the 
Choctaws  in  those  parts  of  the  nation  which  have  enjoyed  the  advanta- 
ge* of  instruction,  with  what  it  was  eight,  or  even  five  years  ago,  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  any  considerable  portions  of  the  civilized  world 
present  specimens  of  equal  improvement  accomplished  within  the  same 
apace  of  time.  In  the  statements  which  follow,  I  shall  confine  myself 
principally  to  facts,  that  the  Department  may  be  able  to  judge  for 
themselves  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  above  remark.  Eight  years  ago 
intemperance  prevailed  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other.  In  the 
space  of  two  months,  ten  Indians  in  this  district  alone  lost  their  lives  by 
whisky.  At  this  time  intemperance  within  the  nation  is  hardly  known. 

In  Jiily,  1828, 1  attended  the  distribution  of  the  annuity  to  two  dis- 
*rkts,  on  wnich  occasion  there  were  present  from  4,000  to  5,000  Indians 
— men,  women  and  children.  They  were  together  four  days,  and  not 
an  intoxicated  one  was  seen,  until  after  the  business  was  closed.  Some 
whisky  had  been  secreted  at  a  distance  from  the  place,  and,  as  the  law 
prohibiting  the  introduction  of  it  into  that  part  of  the  nation  was  not  to 
go  into  effect  until  fifteen  days  from  that  time,  some,  after  leaving  the 
place,  obtained  it,  and  became  intoxicated.  Since  that  time,  I  am  not 
aware  that  whisky  has  been  used  at  any  council  or  collection  of  Indians, 
held  by  order  of  the  chiefs  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

The  Choctaws,  however,  have  not  all  lost  their  appetite  for  whisky, 
nor  is  it  supposed  that  a  majority  of  them  are  restrained  from  intem- 
perance by  the  force  of  moral  principle ;  but  so  sensible  had  they  be- 
come of  the  destructive  effects  of  this  vice,  that  a  law  prohibiting  en- 
tirely the  introduction  of  whisky  into  the  nation,  as  an  article  of  traffic, 
was  proposed  by  the  chiefs,  and  obtained  an  almost  universal  support  in 
a  general  council  of  the  warriors.  There  cannot  be  a  question,  that  less 
ardent  spirit  is  now  used  in  the  Choctaw  nation,  whether  we  consider 
the  extent  of  territory,  or  the  amount  of  populationr  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  United  States.  It  is  only  when  we  go  to  the  borders  of  the 
surrounding  settlements  that  we  see  Indians  intoxicated.  There,  a  few 
unprincipled  white  men,  equally  regardless  of  the  laws  of  God  and  of 
their  country,  continue,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  to  sell  the  deadly  poison 
to  those  Indians  who  resort  thither. 

Other  evidences  of  improvement  we  have  in  the  increase  of  industry, 
and  a  consequent  advance  in  dress,  furniture,  and  all  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  civilized  life.  It  has  been  remarked  by  many,  that  the 
fields  of  the  Indians  have  never  been  kept  in  so  good  order,  and  man- 
aged with  so  much  industry,  as  for  the  two  past  years.  At  councils  and 
other  large  meetings,  the  Indians,  especially  in  the  Northern  and  West- 
esn  districts,  appear  comfortably  and  decently,  and  some  of  them  richly 


39 

dad.  A  great  desire  is  manifested  to  obtain  furniture  for  their  houses ; 
and  some  are  already  supplied  in  a  manner  not  interior  to  that  of  new 
settlers  in  our  own  country. 

The  result  of  a  census  taken  in  1828,  in  the  Northeast  district,  was 
as  follows,  viz :  population,  5,627, ;  nett  caltle,  11,661;  horses,  3,974  ; 
oxen,  112;  hogs,  22,047  ;  sheep,  136;  spinning  wheels,  530;  looms, 
124;  ploughs,  360;  wagons,  32  ;  blacksmiths'  shops,  7;  coopers' 
shops,  2  ;  carpenters'  shops,  2  ;  white  men  with  Choctaw  families,  22  ; 
schools,  5  ;  scholars  in  a  course  of  instruction,  about  150.  In  one  clan, 
with  a  population  of  313,  who  eight  years  ago  were  almost  entirely 
destitute  of  property,  grossly  intemperate,  and  roaming  from  place  to 
place,  there  are  now  188  horses,  511  cattle,  853  hogs,  7  looms,  68 
spinning  wheels,  35  ploughs,  6  oxen,  1  school,  and  20  or  25  scholars. 

Some  of  their  mechanical  shops,  and  many  of  their  tools,  bear  a  poor 
comparison  with  what  we  find  in  civilized  lands,  and  would  be  consider- 
ed of  little  use  by  those  who  have  good  oties;  yet  to  these  people  they 
are  of  great  value.  And  it  must  excite  pity  in  every  one  who  looks 
into  their  circumstances,  to  see  them  laboring  to  cultivate  the  soil,  build 
houses,  manufacture  cloth,  and  struggling  to  rise  from  their  deep  pover. 
ty,  by  the  aid  of  such  miserable  tools  as  many  of  them  are  obliged  to 
use. 

The  Northeast  district,  in  1828,  appropriated  $1,500  of  their  annuity 
for  the  establishment  and  support  of  blacksmiths'  shops.  In  1829,  they 
appropriated  their  whole  annuity  to  similar  objects.  As  an  evidence 
of  industry  and  public  spirit^  I  would  mention  that  in  one  neighborhood 
the  natives  have  built  a  smiths'  shop,  chopped  wood  for  a  lurge  coal 
pit,  and  carried  it  on  their  backs  to  the  place  of  setting  ;  have  built  a 
house  for  their  blacksmith,  and  cleared  for  him  a  field  of  twelve  acres, 
all  with  their  own  hands ;  they  have  purchased  with  their  annuity  a  set 
of  tools,  and  iron  and  steel  to  the  amount  of  $200,  and  have  engaged 
to  pay  their  smith  $300  more  annually  for  three  years.  Similar  provi- 
sion has  been  made  for  shops  in  other  places. 

Another  evidence  of  the  progress  of  improvement  among  the  Choc- 
taws,  is  the  organization  of  a  civil  government.  In  182fi  a  genera! 
council  was  convened,  at  which  a  constitution  was  adopted,  a,ud  legisla- 
tive powers  were  delegated  to  a  national  committee  and  council,  whose 
acts,  when  approved  by  the  chiefs,  became  the  supreme  laws  of  the 
land.  I  have  now  before  me  a  manuscript  code,  containing  22  laws, 
which  have  been  enacted  by  the  constituted  authorities,  an-3,  so  far  as  I 
know,  carried  into  complete  execution.  Among  the  subjects  embraced 
by  these  laws,  are  theft,  murder,  infanticide,  marriage,  polygamy,  the 
making  of  wills,  and  settling  of  estates,  trespass,  false  testimony,  what 
shall  be  considered  lawful  enclosures  around  fields,  &c.  &c. 

Another  evidence  of  improvement  we  have  in  the  abolishing  of  an- 
cient and  injurious  customs:  The  erection  of  poles  in  honor  of  the 
dead  ;  crying  at  these  poles  morning,  noon  and  night,  for  weeks 
and  months  ;  large  meetings  for  feasting,  dancing,  and  intemperance, 
when  the  poles  are  pulled  down,  have  been  fruitful  sources  of  poverty 
and  licentiousness  to  the  Choctaws.  These  practices,  interwoven  as 
they  were  with  the  strongest  prejudices  and  superstitions  oi'  the  people, 
have  been  abolished  by  an  unanimous  vote  in  a  general  council  of  the 
Western  district ;  and  they  are  fast  going  out  of  practice,-,  or  becoming 


40 

greatly  modified  in  the  other  parts  of  the  nation.  The  killing  of  per- 
sons for  witchcraft,  by  which  innocent  blood  has  been  shed,  is  now 
hardly  known. 

A  great  desire  for  the  education  of  their  children  furnishes  another 
proof  of  the  advancement  of  the  Choctaws  Petitions  are  frequently  made, 
requesting  the  establishment  of  new  schools.  Numbers  more  have  ap- 
plied for  admission  to  the  boarding  schools  than  could  be  received. 
Nothing  is  now  wanting  but  suitable  persons  and  adequate;  means  to  ex- 
tend the  advantages  of  education  to  all  parts  of  the  Choctaw  nation. 

The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  has,  within  the  two  past  years,  been 
attended  with  very  happy  effects.  To  its  influence  must  be  ascribed 
much  of  that  impulse  which  has  recently  been  given  to  the  progress  of 
civilization  in  the  more  favored  parts  of  the  nation.  The  light  which 
the  Gospel  has  diffused,  and  the  moral  principles  it  has  imparted  to  adult 
Choctaws,  have  laid  a  foundation  for  stability  and  permanency  in  their 
improvements.  In  this  district,  eighty-two  natives,  principally  heads  of 
families,  are  members  of  the  church.  All  these,  with  one  exception, 
have  maintained  a  consistent  Christian  character,  and  would  do  honor  to 
any  Christian  community. 

So  far  as  relates  to  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  and  the  salutary 
effects  of  the  laws  generally,  the  preceding  remarks  will  apply,  with  few 
exceptions,  to  the  whole  nation.  The  direct  influence  of  the  Gospel 
and  of  schools  is  more  limited  in  its  effects,  and,  as  yet,  is  principally 
confined  to  those  parts  of  the  nation  which  have  enjoyed  the  means  of 
instruction.  But  what  has  been  effected  in  some  parts  of  the  nation, 
proves  what  may  be  effected  in  all  parts  of  it,  by  an  application  of  the 
same  means. 

I  would  not  have  it  understood  that  there  is  no  opposition  among  the 
Choctaws  to  these  measures  of  reform  and  civilization.  In  all  commu- 
nities, many  are  found,  who,  from  ignorance,  prejudice,  or  natural  de- 
pravity, are  opposed  to  all  effurts  to  reform  or  improve  society.  This 
is  especially  to  be  looked  for  among  a  heathen  people.  All  who  are 
slaves  to  whisky,  and  those  who  have  lost  their  influence  and  authority 
by  intemperance,  are  ready  on  every  occasion  to  encourage  disturban- 
ces, and,  if  possible,  to  bring  about  a  revolution  favorable  to  their  wishes. 

There  is,  however,  little  doubt,  if  the  Choctaws  are  permitted  to  carry 
on  their  plans  of  civilization  and  self-government,  that  the  change,  so 
auspiciously  commenced,  will,  in  due  time,  and  as  fast  as  the  means  can 
be  furnished,  be  extended  over  the  nation,  and  they  at  length  become  a 
happy  and  enlightened  people. 

We  look  with  trembling  solicitude  to  the  measures  now  in  contempla- 
tion, as  in  our  apprehension  the  annihilation  or  salvation  of  the  Choc- 
taws will  be  involved  in  the  issue.  It  is  our  earnest  prayer,  that,  as  a 
nation,  we  may  never  forget  our  high  and  peculiar  responsibility  to  the 
Sovereign  of  the  Universe,  how  we  discharge  the  trust  committed  to  us, 
as  the  guardians  of  the  Indians  ;  and  that  by  our  acts  we  may  declare 
to  the  world,  in  the  language  of  the  political  Father  of  our  Country, 
that  it  is  "  worthy  of  a  free,  enlightened,  and  great  nation,  to  give  to 
mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too  novel  example  of  a  people  always 
guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benevolence." 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

C.  KJNGSBURY. 


41 

P.  S.  The  principal  part  of  the  preceding  communication  was  prepay 
ed  some  time  since  for  publication.  I  now  regret  that  a  copy  had  not, 
at  that  time,  been  forwarded  to  the  War  Department.  I  see  no  reason, 
after  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  year,  to  make  any  material  alteration  in  the 
statements.  I  ought,  however,  to  state,  that  an  unprincipled  white  man, 
anticipating  what  he  supposed  would  soon  be  the  unprotected  state  of 
the  Indian  country,  has  recently  introduced  whisky  into  the  nation,  and 
some  mischief  has  been  done  by  it.  I  am  happy  to  learn  that  the  agent 
'fs  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  such  iniquitous  proceedings. 


Letter  from  Samuel  A.  Worcester,  relating  to  the  condition  and 
tion  of  the  Indians. 

NEW  ECHOTA,  CHEROKEE  NATION, 

March  15, 1830. 
Mr.  WM.  S.  GOODEY,  Washington  City. 

Dear  Sir:  I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request,  that  I  would  for- 
ward to  you  a  statement  respecting  the  progress  of  improvement  among 
your  people,  the  Cherokees.  Whatever  might  be  said  of  the  propriety 
or  impropriety  of  Missionaries  discussing  the  question  of  the  removal  of 
the  Indians,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  it  is  proper  for  any  one  to 
give  a  statement  of  what  passes  under  his  observation,  in  regard  to  the 
present  condition  of  the  tribes  interested  in  that  question.  I  shall  not 
say  any  thing  in  this  communication  which  I  shall  be  unwilling  to  have 
come  before  the  public,  accompanied  with  my  proper  signature,  if  occa- 
sion require. 

Whatever  deficiencies  there  may  be  in  my  statements,  I  shall  use  my 
utmost  endeavor  that  nothing  colored — nothing  which  will  not  bear  the 
strictest  scrutiny — may  find  a  place. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  state,  briefly,  what  opportunities  I  have  en- 
joyed of  forming  a  judgment  respecting  the  state  of  the  Cherokee  peo- 
ple. It  was  four  years  last  October  since  I  came  to  the  nation,  during 
which  time  I  have  made  it  my  home,  having  resided  two  years  at  Brai- 
nerd,  and  the  remainder  of  the  time  at  this  place.  Though  I  have  not 
spent  very  much  of  the  time  in  travelling,  yet  I  have  visited  almost 
every  part  of  the  nation,  except  a  section  on  the  Northeast.  Two  an- 
nual sessions  of  the  General  Council  have  passed  while  I  have  been  re- 
siding at  the  Seat  of  Government,  at  which  times  a  great  number  of  the 
people  of  all  classes  and  from  all  parts  are  to  be  seen. 

The  statistical  information  which  has  been  published  respecting  this 
nation  I  hope  you  have  en  hand,  or  will  receive  from  some  other  source  ; 
it  goes  far  towards  giving  a  correct  view  of  the  state  of  the  people.  I 
have  only  to  say,  that,  judging  from  what  I  see  around  me,  I  believe  that 
a  similar  enumeration  made  the  present  year  would  show,  by  the  com- 
parison, a  rapid  improvement  since  the  census  was  taken. 

The  printed  constitution  and  laws  of  your  nation,  also,  you  doubtless 
have.  They  show  your  progress  in  civil  polity.  As  far  as  my  know- 
ledge extends  they  are  executed  with  a  good  degree  of  efficiency,  and 
their  execution  meets  with  not  the  least  hindrance  from  any  thing  like  a 
spirit  of  insubordination  among  the  people.  Oaths  are  constantly  ad- 
6 


42 

ministered  in  the  courts  of  justice,  and  I  believe  I  have  never  heard  of 
an  instance  of  perjury* 

It  has  been  well  observed  by  others,  that  the  progress  of  a  people  in 
civilization  is  to  be  determined  by  comparing  the  present  with  the  past. 
1  c-ui  only  compare  what  1  see  with  what  I  am  told  has  been. 

The  present  principal  chief  is  about  forty  years  of  age.  When  he 
he  was  a  b'»y,  his  father  procured  him  a  good  suit  of  clothes,  in  the 
fashion  of  the  sons  of  civilized  people ;  but  he  was  so  ridiculed  by  his 
mates  as  a  white  boy,  that  he  took  o(F  his  n?w  suit,  and  refused  to  wear 
it.  The  editor  of  the  Cherokee  Phoenix  is  twenty-seven  years  old.  He 
well  remembers  that  he  felt  awkward  and  ashamed  of  his  singularity, 
when  he  began  to  wear  the  dress  of  a  white  boy.  Note  every  boy  is 
proud  of  a  civilized  suit,  and  those  feel  awkward  and  ashamed  of  their 
singularity  who  are  destitute  of  it.  At  the  last  session  of  the  General 
Council,  I  scarcely  recollect  having  seen  any  members  who  were  not 
clothed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring 
States  ;  and  those  very  few  (I  am  informed  that  the  precise  number  was 
four)  who  were  partially  clothed  in  Indian  style  were,  nevertheless,  very 
decently  attired.  The  dress  of  civilized  people  is  general  throughout 
the  nation.  I  have  seen,  I  believe,  only  one  Cherokee  woman,  and  she 
an  aged  woman,  away  from  her  home,  who  was  not  clothed  in  at  least 
a  decent  long  gown.  At  home,  only  one,  a  very  aged  woman,  who  ap- 
peared willing  to  be  seen  in  original  native  dress  ;  three  or  four,  only, 
who  had  at  their  own  IIOUSPS  dressed  themselves  in  Indian  style,  but  hid 
themselves  with  sluime  at  the  approach  of  a  stranger.  I  am  thus  parti- 
cular, because  particularity  gives  more  accurate  ideas  than  general  state- 
ments. Among  the  elderly  men  there  is  yet  a  considerable  portion,  I 
dare  not  say  whether  a  majority  or  a  minority,  who  retain  the  Indian 
dress  in  part.  The  younger  men  almost  all  dress  like  the  whites  around 
them,  except  that  the  greater  number  wear  a  turban  instead  of  a  hat, 
find  in  cold  weather  a  blanket  frequently  serves  for  a  cloak.  -Cloaks, 
however,  are  becoming  common.  There  yet  remains  room  for  im- 
provement in  dress,  but  that  improvement  is  making  with  surprising  ra- 
pid ity» 

The  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  the  Cherokee  women,  generally, 
put  in  practice.  Most  of  their  garments  are  of  their  own  spinning  and 
weaving,  from  cotton,  the  produce  of  their  own  fields  ;  though  conside- 
rable Northern  domestic,  and  much  calicoe  is  worn,  nor  is  silk  uncom- 
mon. Numbers  of  the  men  wear  imported  cloths,  broadcloths,  &c.  and 
many  wear  mixed  cotton  and  wool,  the  manufacture  of  their  wives;  but 
tbe  greater  part  are  clothed  principally  in  cotton. 

Except  in  the  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  but  little  progress  has 
been  made  in  manufactures.  A  few  Cherokees,  however,  are  mechanics. 

Agriculture  is  the  principal  employment  and  support  of  the  people.  It 
is  the  dependence  of  almost  every  family.  As  to  the  wandering  part  of 
the  people,  who  live  by  the  chase,  if  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  nation, 
1  certainly  have  not  found  them,  nor  even  heard  of  them,  except  from 
the  floor  of  Congress,  and  other  distant  sources  of  information.  I  do 
not  know  of  a  single  family  who  depend,  in  any  considerable  degree,  on 
game  for  a  support.  It  is  true  that  deer  and  turkeys  are  frequently  kil- 
led, but  not  in  sufficient  numbers  to  form  any  dependence  as  the 
means  of  subsistence.  The  land  is  cultivated  with  very  different  de-t 


43 

grees  of  industry  ;  but  I  believe  that  few  fail  of  an  adequate  supply  of 
food.  The  ground  is  uniformly  cultivated  by  means  of  the  plough,  and 
not,  as  formerly,  by  the  hoe  only. 

The  houses  of  the  Cherokees  are  of  all  sorts ;  from  an  elegant  paint- 
ed or  brick  mansion,  down  to  a  very  mean  log  cabin.  If  we  speak, 
however,  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  they  live  in  comfortable  log  houses, 
generally  one  story  high,  but  frequently  two  ;  sometimes  of  hewn  logs, 
and  sometimes  unhewn  ;  commonly  with  a  wooden  chimney,  and  a 
floor  of  puncheons,  or  what  a  New  England  man  would  call  slabs. 
Their  houses  are  not  generally  well  furnished  ;  many  have  scarcely 
any  furniture,  though  a  few  are  furnished  even  elegantly,  and  many 
decently.  Improvement  in  ihe  furniture  of  their  houses  appears  to 
follow  after  improvement  in  dress,  but  at  present  is  making  rapid  pro- 
gress. 

As  to  education,  the  number  who  can  read  and  write  English  is  con 
siderable,  though  it  bears  but  a  moderate  proportion  to  the  whole  popu- 
lation. Among  sucb,  the  degree  of  improvement  and  intelligence  is 
various.  The  Cherokee  language,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  is  read  and 
written  by  a  large  majority  of  those  between  childhood  and  middle  age. 
Only  a  few  who  are  much  beyond  middle  age  have  learned. 

lu  regard  to  the  progress  of  religion,  I  cannot,  I  suppose,  do  better 
than  to  state,  as  nearly  as  I  am  able,  the  number  of  members  in  the 
churches  of  the  several  denominations.  The  whole  number  of  native 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  churcrues  is  not  far  from  180.  In  the 
churches  of  the  United  Brethren  are  about  54.  In  the  Baptist  churches 
I  do  not  know  the  number  ;  probably  as  many  as  50.  The  Metho- 
dists, I  believe,  reckon  in  society  more  than  800;  of  whom  I  suppose 
the  greater  part  are  natives.  Many  of  the  heathenish  Customs  of  the 
people  have  gone  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  into  disuse,  and  others 
arc  fast  following  their  steps.  I  believe  the  greater  part  of  the  people 
acknowledge  the  Christian  religion  to  be  the  true  religion,  although 
many  who  make  this  acknowledgment  know  very  little  of  that  religion  ; 
and  many  others  do  not  feel  its  power.  Through  the  blessing  of  our 
God,  however,  religion  is  steadily  gaining  ground. 

But  it  will  be  asked,  is  the  improvement  which  has  been  described 
general  among  the  people,  and  are  the  full  blooded  Indians  civilized,  or  only 
the  half  breeds  ?  I  answer,  that  in  the  description  which  I  have  given,  I 
have  spoken  of  the  mass  of  the  people  without  distinction.  If  it  be  ask- 
ed, however,  what  class  are  most  advanced — I  answer,  as  a  general 
thing,  those  of  mixed  blood.  They  have  taken  the  lead,  although  some 
of  the  fall  blood  are  as  refined  as  any.  But  though  those  of  mixed 
blood  are  generally  in  the  van,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  yet  the 
whole  mass  of  the  people  is  on  the  march. 

There  is  one  other  subject,  on  which  I  think  it  due  to  justice  to  give 
my  testimony,  whatever  it  may  be  worth.  Whether  the  Cherokees  are 
wise  in  desiring  to  remain  here  or  not,  I  express  no  opinion.  But 
it  is  certainly  just,  that  it  should  be  known  whether  or  not  they  do,  as  a 
body,  wish  to  remain.  It  is  not  possible  for  a  person  to  dwell  among 
them  without  hearing  much  on  the  subject.  I  have  heard  much,  It  is 
said  abroad,  that  the  common  people  would  gladly  remove,  but  are  de- 
terred by  the  chiefs,  and  a  few  other  influential  men.  It  is  not  so.  1 
eay,  with  the  utmosl  assurance,  it  is  not  so.  Nothing  is  plainer  than  thaf 


44 

it  is  the  earnest  xvish-'of  the  whole  body  of  ihe  people  to  remain  where 
they  are.  Thffy  are  not  ov'-rawed  by  the  chiefs.  Individuals  may  be 
overaw.  d  by  popular  opinion,  but  not  by  the  chiefs.  On  the  oiher 
han'l,  if  there  were  a  chief  in  favor  of  removal,  he  would  be  overawed 
by  the  people.  He  would  know  that  he  could  not  open  his  mouth  in  fa- 
vor of  such  a  proposition,  but  on  pain,  not  only  of  the  failure  of  his  re- 
flection, but  of  popular  odium  and  scorn..  The  whole  tide  of  national 
feeling  sets,  in  one  strong  and  unbroken  current,  against  a  removal  to 
•the  West. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

SAMUEL  A,  WORCESTER. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


I 


REC'D  LD-UR 


2  5  192 


Form  L9-Series  4939 


MAY  101934 


3   1158  00137  4056 


